)REYFUS 


AND 

THE 
SHAME 


FRANCE 


G.JW.Stevans 


Illustrated 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/dreyfusshameoffrOOsteviala 


THE  ACCUSED  AVERRING  HIS  INNOCENCE 


DREYFUS 


ISff 
rfi.LP 


SHAME  OF  FRANCE 


INCLUDING 


THE  VIEWS  OF  ZANGWILL,  ZOLA  AND  OTHER 

FAMOUS  WRITERS,  SCHOLARS 

AND  STATESMEN 


PREPARED   BY 


C    M.    STEVANS 


CHICAGO 


F.  TENNYSON  NEELY 

PUBLISHER 

114 

Fifth  Avenue 
NEW  YORK 


BOSTON 


Copyright,  1899, 
By  F.  TENNYSON  NEELY 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE   GREAT  ARMY  SCANDAL   OF 
FRANCE. 

Russia  has  had  its  Siberian  horrors,  Turkey 
its  Armenian  atrocities,  but  France,  briUiant 
France,  at  the  head  of  nations  in  the  glories  of 
art,  culture,  and  advanced  civilization,  surpasses 
all  in  the  infamy  of  its  great  national  scandals. 

Russia  has  discarded  its  Siberian  terrors  and 
Turkey  is  maintaining  order  in  Armenia,  but 
France  still  has  its  disgraced  system  of  justice. 

From  the  Mississippi  scheme,  early  in  the  pre- 
ceding century,  to  the  Panama  scandal,  the 
romance  of  French  history  exceeds  in  startling 
situations  the  romance  of  her  noveUsts. 

But  it  was  reserved  for  the  close  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  to  see  the  greatest  travesty  on 
justice  yet  recorded  among  enlightened  nations. 

As  a  human  document,  it  is  of  surpassing  in- 
terest; as  an  indictment  against  a  nation,  it  is 
like  a  brilliant  and  graphic  historical  novel. 
5 


6       Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW. 

This  is  the  story  of  Captain  Alfred  Dreyfus, 
a  tragedy  so  appaUing  in  its  revelations  of  duplic- 
ity and  the  oppressions  of  governments  that  the 
heart  chokes  with  horror  and  the  mind  staggers 
before  the  inhumanity  of  man  to  man. 

Dreyfus  was  an  Alsatian  by  origin,  a  German 
Jew  whose  people,  coming  under  the  French 
tricolor,  swore  allegiance  to  the  government. 
Until  1894  the  son  was  nothing  more  than  a 
remarkably  bright  member  of  the  general  staff 
of  the  French  army.  He  had  wealth,  a  beauti- 
ful wife,  children,  many  friends,  many  enemies. 

COMMENDED  FOR  ABILITY. 

When  in  the  war  school  of  the  government 
preparing  for  the  army  he  was  considered  a 
phenomenon  as  a  student.  At  the  Polytechnic 
he  was  often  commended  for  ability.  Perhaps 
the  praise  so  freely  bestowed  upon  him  turned 
his  head  a  bit.  It  is  said  that  when  he  entered 
the  army  he  was  proud  of  his  successes,  inclined 
to  disdain,  apt  to  look  down  upon  those  who 
failed.  He  was  extremely  ambitious.  M.  de 
Blowitz  writes : 

"He  cherished  magnificent  dreams.  Now  and 
then  he  let  some  of  them  escape  him.  He  en- 
deavored to  put  himself  en  vedette,  to  dazzle  his 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.       7 

chiefs,  to  rally  about  him  all  sorts  of  backers — 
to  be,  as  the  French  say,  quelquechose  before 
being  quelqu'un.  He  created  about  him  an  at- 
mosphere of  ill  will  and  irony." 

CRY  OF  THE  ANTI-SEMITES. 

It  was  General  Mirabel  who  first  suggested 
that  Dreyfus  should  have  a  place  on  the  general 
staff  of  the  army.  It  was  Sandherr  who  pro- 
tested, crying: 

"But  he  is  a  Jew !  You  are  not  going  to  bring 
a  Jew  in  here !" 

Yet  the  Jew  did  enter,  and  he  was  keen  to 
learn  and  understand,  cherishing  always  some 
dream,  never  heeding  the  hostile  attitude  of  the 
men  who  never  wished  him  where  he  was. 

So  contemptuously  did  the  general  staff  hold 
him  that  the  expression  which  always  passed 
when  he  was  referred  to  was,  "The  Jew."  It 
became  a  mania  in  the  general  staff  offices  to 
throw  everything  onto  his  shoulders. 

"Has  anyone  seen  a  red  note-book  which  I 
left  on  my  table?"  asked  an  officer  of  the  staff 
one  day. 

"I  saw  the  Jew  sneaking  about  here,"  an- 
other immediately  replied.  "Ask  him;  he  must 
have  seen  it." 


8      Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

GENERAL  STAFF'S  ENMITY. 

Thus  day  by  day  grew  up  in  regard  to  him 
slowly  but  surely  in  the  minds  of  the  general 
staff  officers  a  spirit  of  disdainful  or  hateful  sus- 
picion. Unconsciously  he  was  preparing  for 
himself  his  own  doom. 

This  feeling  of  hatred  toward  him  was  strong- 
est in  the  intelligence  department  of  the  army. 
This  department  is  situated  at  an  isolated  point 
in  the  war  office.  One  can  enter  there  without 
being  seen.  There  treason  is  announced  and 
the  rewards  paid  for  revelations.  There  is  the 
gold  which  goes  to  contemptible  spies  and  there 
characters  are  made  and  unmade  as  vengeance 
or  spite  inspires  men  to  lower  themselves  to  a 
plane  beneath  the  devils. 

FACES  KEEN  HATRED. 

In  this  mysterious  bureau  Dreyfus  met  with 
the  keenest  hatred  and  suspicion.  He  was  in- 
dependent. He  was  in  no  need  of  money.  He 
was  of  an  inquisitive  turn  of  mind.  And  it  was 
into  this  bureau  that  he  was  sent  to  work,  this 
bureau  where  he  was  looked  upon  as  an  enemy 
who  had  surreptitiously  worked  his  way  in. 
Truly,  the  spy  department  of  the  French  govern- 
ment was  well  prepared  to  believe  anything  of 
him. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.       9 

And  Dreyfus — he  went  his  way,  confident  that 
honor  and  fame  awaited  his  efforts  to  become  a 
"first"  soldier  of  the  repubUc. 

NO  MOTIVE  FOR  ALLEGED  CRIME. 

Throughout  his  miHtary  career  the  record  of 
Captain  Dreyfus  was  excellent.  His  promotions 
were  won  by  diligence  and  discipline.  He  had  a 
private  fortune  of  more  than  moderate  dimen- 
sions. His  wife  was  wealthy  in  her  own  right. 
He  had  two  young  children.  He  had  no  debts. 
His  afi^ection  for  France  was  proved  by  his  aban- 
donment of  his  native  soil  when  it  passed  from 
under  the  tricolor.  There  was  an  entire  absence 
of  motive  for  the  crime  of  which  he  was  soon  to 
be  accused.  Such  was  the  position  of  Alfred 
Dreyfus  in  1894.  His  only  fault  was  that  he 
was  a  Jew.  An  agitation  against  Jews,  begin- 
ning in  Russia,  had  spread  across  Germany  into 
France,  and  as  early  as  1892  had  sufficient 
strength  to  establish  newspapers  devoted  to  its 
propagation. 

There  were  leakages  of  army  secrets  in 
France,  and  on  several  occasions  prior  to  1894 
the  public  had  been  angered  to  learn  that  im- 
portant French  military  devices  had  been  be- 
trayed to  Germany.  In  1894  suspicions  were 
aroused  that  there  were  traitors  on  the  general 


10     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

staff,  the  center  and  soul  of  the  national  defense. 
Subsequent  developments  indicate  that  the  trait- 
ors became  convinced  that  a  scapegoat  must  be 
found.  There  appeared  to  be  a  traitor  in  the 
bureau  of  military  intelligence.  Colonel  Sand- 
herr,  the  chief  of  that  bureau,  disliked  Jews,  and 
objected  when  Dreyfus  was  sent  him  as  an  as- 
sistant. Under  such  circumstances,  it  was  easy 
for  the  real  traitors,  with  or  without  Sandherr's 
connivance,  to  designate  Dreyfus  as  the  traitor. 
In  the  summer  of  1894  Jean  Casimir-Perier 
was  President  of  France.  M.  Dupuy  was 
Premier.  General  Mercier  was  Minister  of  War. 
The  military  attaches  of  the  German  and  Italian 
legations  were  Colonel  Schwartzkoppen  and 
Major  Panizzardi.  These  two  attaches  were 
close  personal  friends.  General  Mercier  was  dis- 
liked by  several  radical  factions,  and  early  in  the 
summer  of  1894  the  Intransigeant,  the  Libre 
Parole,  the  Patrie,  and  the  Presse  had  opened 
fire  on  him  on  various  grounds.  With  these 
conditions  understood,  the  annals  of  the  Dreyfus 
affair  may  begin. 

BEGINNING  OF  THE  DRAMA. 

In  September,  1894,  one  of  the  spies  of  the 
intelligence  department  of  the  French  war  office 
brought  to  his  employers  a  document,  torn  into 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France,     ii 

pieces,  said  to  have  been  stolen  from  the  Ger- 
man embassy,  where  at  that  time  Colonel  Von 
Schwartzkoppen  was  the  military  attache.  The 
document  was  carefully  put  together  by  the  in- 
telligence officers  and  was  shown  to  the  chiefs. 
General  Mercier,  minister  of  war;  General  de 
Boisdeflfre,  the  chief,  and  General  Gonse,  the  as- 
sistant chief  of  the  headquarters  staff.  At  the 
head  of  the  intelligence  department  was  Colonel 
Sandherr  and  among  his  assistant  officers  was 
Commandant  Henry.  On  the  stafT  were  three 
officers  —  Picquart,  Du  Paty  de  Clam  and 
Dreyfus.  Such  was  the  personnel  at  the  time 
when  the  fatal  fragments  stated  to  come  from 
the  German  military  attache's  waste  paper  bas- 
ket were  brought  into  the  war  office.  Put  to- 
gether they  read  as  follows : 

"Without  news  indicating  that  you  wish  to  see 
me  I  am  sending  you,  nevertheless,  sir,  some  in- 
teresting information :         ' 

"i,  A  note  on  the  hydraulic  break  of  the  120 
and  on  the  way  in  which  this  piece  behaved. 

"2.  A  note  on  the  covering  troop  (troupes  de 
converture).  Some  modifications  will  be  entailed 
by  the  new  plan. 

"3.  A  note  on  a  modification  in  artillery 
formations. 

"4.    A  note  relative  to  Madagascar. 


12     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

"5.  The  project  for  a  firing  manual  for  field 
artillery,  March  14,  1894. 

"This  last  document  is  extremely  difficult  to 
procure  and  I  can  only  have  it  at  my  disposal 
for  a  very  few  days.  The  minister  of  war  has 
sent  a  limited  number  of  copies  to  the  several 
corps  and  these  corps  are  responsible  for  it; 
each  officer  is  to  send  his  copy  back  after  the 
maneuvers.  If,  therefore,  you  will  take  from  it 
wliat  interests  you  and  hold  it  afterward  at  my 
disposal  I  will  take  it  unless  you  should  desire 
that  I  should  have  it  copied  in  extenso  and  then 
send  you  the  copy.  I  am  about  to  go  to  the 
maneuvers." 

This  is  the  first  chapter  of  the  Dreyfus  case 
which  troubled  France  and  agitated  the  whole 
world  during  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

STARTED  BY  ANTI-SEMITES. 

It  was  to  the  ardent  anti-Semite,  Edouard 
Drumont,  that  the  delightful  news  came  in  an 
anonymous  letter,  addressed  to  his  editor,  Mr. 
Papillaud,  that  a  traitor  had  been  discovered 
among  the  offices  of  the  general  staff  at  the  min- 
istry for  war  and  that  the  traitor  was  a  Jew.  The 
anonymous  correspondent  hinted  that  search 
should  be  made    among    "the    Dreyfuses,    the 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     13 

Mayers  and  the  Levys,"  and  that  there  the  traitor 
would  be  found.  On  the  last  day  of  October, 
1894,  Papillaud  received  a  letter  giving  the  name 
of  Captain  Dreyfus  as  being  the  culprit  and  stat- 
ing that  he  had  been  in  the  Cherche  Midi  prison 
since  October  15.  "People  say  he  is  traveling, 
but  they  lie,  because  they  would  like  to  smother 
the  business.  All  Israel  is  astir.  Tout  a  vous, 
Henry."  The  ardent  Drumont  plunged  himself 
and  his  paper  at  once  into  a  matter  so  congenial. 
He  found  that  the  arrest  had  actually  taken  place 
and  that  the  charge  was  against  an  officer  named 
Alfred  Dreyfus,  a  Jew,  of  the  intelligence  depart- 
ment of  the  war  office.  He  was  accused  of  hav- 
ing sold  documents  to  a  foreign  power,  under- 
stood to  mean  Germany, 

It  subsequently  came  out  that  the  arrest  had 
been  made  on  October  15  by  Colonel  Du  Paty 
de  Clam,  an  officer  attached  to  the  general  staff, 
acting  under  the  orders  of  General  Mercier,  min- 
ister of  war;  that  Dreyfus  had  been  imprisoned 
at  the  Cherche  Midi  jail,  and  that  extraordinary 
precautions  had  been  taken  to  keep  the  arrest 
secret  from  the  public  and  even  from  his  own 
family.  His  wife,  it  was  said,  was  terrified  into 
silence  by  Colonel  Du  Paty  de  Clam.  Paris 
became  more  and  more  interested  and  eventually 
excited  over  the  affair.     No  one  at  that  time, 


14    Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

however,  realized  how  important  an  event  had 
occurred,  and  the- newspapers  continued  to  give 
what  details  they  could  under  the  title  of  "le 
traitre"  (the  traitor).  All  kinds  of  rumors  were 
afloat.  According  to  some  the  accused  man 
had  supplied  an  Italian  officer  with  plans  for  the 
mobilization  of  the  army  corps  stationed  near 
the  Italian  frontier;  important  documents  had 
been  missed  by  the  minister  of  war.  Others  as- 
serted that  mobilization  plans  had  been  com- 
municated to  Germany  and  Austria.  There  was 
a  general  demand  that  the  minister  of  war  should 
make  the  whole  truth  public  without  delay. 

CABINET  COUNCIL  IS  HELD. 

Finally,  on  November  i,  1894,  a  cabinet  coun- 
cil was  held,  at  which  General  Mercier,  the  min- 
ister of  war,  stated  that  he  had  advised  the  mili- 
tary governor  of  Paris  to  conduct  an  inquiry  into 
the  case  of  Captain  Alfred  Dreyfus  of  the  Four- 
teenth regiment  of  artillery,  attached  to  the  gen- 
eral staflF  of  the  army,  charged  with  having 
divulged  to  a  foreign  country  the  contents  of 
secret  documents  belonging  to  the  ministry  of 
war.  On  the  following  day  the  French  govern- 
ment did  a  deed  which  was  worthy  of  the  secret 
machinations  of  the  Venetian  council  of  ten  in 


THE   TRAP   SET    FOR   DREYFUS 

Colonel  du  Paty  de  Clam  dictating  to  Captain  Dreyfus  the  test 
letter  in  which  some  of  the  terms  of  the  Bordereau  were  mentioned. 
Captain  Dreyfus  was  then  and  there  arrested  by  M.  Cochefert,  the 
chief  of  the  detective  service. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     17 

the  middle  ages.  Colonel  Panizzardi,  the  Italian 
military  attache  in  Paris,  had  been  freely  spoken 
of  in  Paris  as  being  implicated  in  the  treachery 
of  Dreyfus,  Italy  as  well  as  Germany  being  one 
of  the  bugbears  of  the  French.  On  November 
2,  the  day  following  the  announcement  of  the 
arrest  of  Dreyfus,  the  French  government  inter- 
cepted a  telegram  from  Panizzardi  to  his  govern- 
ment begging  that  if  they  had  no  relations  with 
Dreyfus  the  Italian  ambassador  in  Paris  might 
be  instructed  to  publish  a  denial  in  order  to  avoid 
remarks  in  the  press.  The  telegram  was  sup- 
pressed from  Dreyfus  and  his  counsel  by  order  of 
General  Mercier  and  only  came  to  light  long 
after  the  revision  movement  had  begun. 

Dreyfus  was,  after  his  arrest,  at  once  taken 
to  the  Cherche  Midi  military  prison,  of  which 
Major  Forzinetti  was  the  governor.  Command- 
ant Henry,  who,  with  the  detectives,  escorted 
Dreyfus  to  the  prison,  gave  Forzinetti  an  order 
from  the  minister  of  war  according  to  which 
Captain  Dreyfus,  accused  of  high  treason,  was 
not  to  be  entered  on  the  prison  register ;  he  was 
to  be  kept  in  secret  confinement  and  not  to  be 
allowed  to  communicate  with  any  but  the  chief 
warder  and  Forzinetti,  and  he  and  the  chief 
warder  were  strictly  prohibited  from  divulging 
to  anyone  the  fact  of  the  arrest. 


1 8     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

NARRATIVE  OF  FORZINETTI. 
Forzinetti  has  related  what  passed  in  the 
prison  before  the  court-martial  was  held,  and 
his  narrative  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
most  terrible  of  all  the  documents  connected  with 
the  case,  "On  October  14,  1894,"  he  says,  "I 
received  a  confidential  dispatch  from  the  war 
office.  It  informed  me  that  on  the  following 
morning  a  field  officer  would  call  at  the  prison 
in  order  to  acquaint  me  with  a  secret  communi- 
cation. On  the  15th  Lieutenant  Colonel 
D'Aboville,  in  full  uniform,  handed  me  a  dis- 
patch, informing  me  that  Captain  Dreyfus  of  the 
Fourteenth  regiment  of  artillery,  serving  on  the 
general  stafT  of  the  army,  would  be  imprisoned 
on  the  charge  of  high  treason,  and  that  I  was 
personally  responsible  for  his  safe  custody. 
Colonel  D'Aboville  asked  me  to  give  my  word 
of  honor  that  I  would  strictly  carry  out  the  min- 
ister's injunctions.  The  prisoner  was  to  have 
no  sort  o£  communication  with  the  outer  world 
and  was'  to  have  neither  knife,  paper,  pen  or 
pencil.  He  was  to  be  treated  in  the  matter  of 
food  as  an  ordinary  criminal,  but  this  order  was 
canceled  upon  my  remark  that  it  was  illegal. 
The  colonel,  without  going  into  particulars,  or- 
dered me  to  take  whatever  precautions  I  might 
deem  necessary  to  prevent  the  fact  of  the  pris- 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     19 

oner's  arrest  being  known  in  the  prison  or  out- 
side. He  asked  to  see  the  cells  set  apart  for  offi- 
cers, and  selected  one  for  Captain  Dreyfus.  He 
told  me  to  be  on  my  guard  against  the  intrigues 
of  the  Haute  Juiverie  as  soon  as  the  news  of 
arrest  should  reach  their  ears.  I  saw  nobody 
and  nobody  attempted  to  get  at  me.  I  never 
visited  the  prisoner  except  in  company  of  the 
chief  warder,  who  alone  had  the  key  of  the  cell. 
Nobody  saw  the  prisoner  during  his  detention 
except  in  my  presence.  When,  after  his  arrival, 
I  went  to  see  the  prisoner  he  was  in  a  state  of 
excitement  impossible  to  describe — like  a  mad- 
man. His  eyes  were  bloodshot,  and  he  had 
upset  everything  in  his  room.  I  was  able  at 
length  to  quiet  him.    I  felt  that  he  was  innocent." 

EXAMINED  BY  PATY  DE  CLAM. 

"Major  Du  Paty  de  Clam,"  continues  For- 
zinetti,  "who  had  arrested  Dreyfus  at  the  war 
office,  called  from  the  i8th  to  the  24th  with  the 
special  authority  of  the  minister  of  war  (Mercier) 
to  examine  the  prisoner.  The  major  asked  me 
whether  he  could  not  enter  Dreyfus'  cell  noise- 
lessly with  a  bull's  eye  sufficiently  powerful  to 
throw  a  flood  of  light  on  the  face  of  the  prisoner, 
whom  he  wanted  to  take  by  surprise  in  order 
to  upset  him.     I  said  it  was  not  possible.     He 


20     Dreyfus  and  tlie  Shame  of  I^rance. 

examined  the  prisoner  twice,  and  each  time  dic- 
tated to  him  sentences  taken  from  the  famous 
document  (the  bordereau)  in  order  to  compare 
the  two  writings. 

DREYFUS'  MENTAL  AGONY. 

"During  the  whole  of  this  period  Captain 
Dreyfus  was  in  a  state  of  terrible  excitement. 
In  the  hall  one  could  hear  him  moaning,  crying, 
talking  aloud,  protesting  his  innocence.  He 
knocked  against  the  furniture,  against  the  walls, 
and  did  not  seem  aware  of  the  injuries  he  was  in- 
flicting upon  himself.  He  had  not  a  moment's 
rest,  and  when  overcome  with  fatigue  and  agony 
he  lay,  dressed,  on  his  bed.  His  sleep  was 
haunted  by  horrible  nightmares.  He  had  such 
convulsions  during  his  sleep  that  he  sometimes 
fell  on  the  floor.  During  this  agony  of  nine 
days  he  took  nothing  but  beef  tea  and  a  little 
wine  with  sugar. 

DE  BOISDEFFRE  "LOOKS  ANNOYED." 

"On  the  24th,  in  the  morning,  his  mental  state, 
bordering  on  insanity,  seemed  so  serious  that, 
anxious  to  screen  my  responsibility,  I  reported 
it  to  the  minister  of  war  (Mercier)  and  to  the 
governor  of  Paris.  In  the  afternoon  I  was  sum- 
moned by  General  de  Boisdeffre,  and  accom- 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     21 

panied  him  to  the  war  office.  The  general 
asked  me  my  opinion.  I  rephed  without  hesita- 
tion that  Dreyfus  was  not  guilty.  General  de 
Boisdeffre  entered  the  minister's  room  alone, 
and,  coming  out  again,  looking  annoyed,  he  said 
to  me,  'The  general  is  leaving  Paris  to  attend 
his  niece's  wedding,  and  gives  me  full  powers 
during  his  absence.  Try  and  keep  Dreyfus  alive 
until  his  return,  and  the  minister  will  do  what 
he  pleases.'  General  de  Boisdeffre  told  me  to 
send  the  prison  doctor  to  Dreyfus.  He  pre- 
scribed some  soothing  drugs. 

DU  PATY  DE  CLAM  AGAIN. 

"Major  Du  Paty  de  Clam  called  nearly  every 
day  after  the  27th  to  examine  Dreyfus  and  to 
get  new  specimens  of  his  handwriting.  His  real 
object  was  to  wring  an  admission  of  guilt, 
against  which  Dreyfus  never  ceased  to  protest. 

"MY  ONLY.  CRIME  IS  TO  BE  BORN  A 
JEW." 

"After  the  verdict  Dreyfus  was  taken  back  to 
his  cell,  where  I  saw  him  about  midnight.  On 
seeing  me  he  burst  into  sobs,  and  said,  'My  only 
crime  is  to  be  born  a  Jew.'  His  despair  was 
such  that  I  was  afraid  for  his  mind,  and  had  him 
watched  day  and  night.  ^ 


22     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

"A  DREADFUL  MISTAKE." 

"I  have  been  for  many  years  at  the  head  of 
military  prisons,  and  have  some  knowledge  of 
prisoners,  and  I  can  assert  emphatically  that  a 
dreadful  mistake  has  been  committed.  My  su- 
periors have  known  my  opinion  from  the  first. 
Several  generals  and  statesmen  are  just  as  cer- 
tain as  I  am  of  Dreyfus'  innocence,  but  cowardice 
prevents  them  from  speaking." 

Thus  did  Forzinetti,  who  is  a  gentleman  and 
no  coward,  frankly  give  his  opinion  and  risked 
thereby  the  ruin  of  his  career. 

THE  COURT-MARTIAL. 

Dreyfus  was  tried  by  court-martial  at  the 
Cherche  Midi  prison  on  December  19,  1894.  It 
was  a  trial  with  closed  doors  and  no  allusion 
was  permitted  to  documents.  Early  in  the  morn- 
ing the  accused  man  was  brought  before  his 
judges.  Colonel  Maurel-Pries  was  president 
of  the  court.  The  other  members  were  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Echemann,  Commandants  Floren- 
tine, Patron  and  Gallet,  Captains  Roche  and 
Freystaetter.  Commandant  Brisset  prosecuted 
on  behalf  of  the  government.  There  was  much 
anxiety  among  the  public  to  catch  sight  of  the 
prisoner,  and  the  approaches  to  the  court  were 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     23 

crowded.  The  high  rank  of  the  accused,  and 
the  serious  charges  alleged  against  him,  charges 
which  always  appeal  to  the  most  violent  passions 
of  the  French — the  very  word  "treason"  throws 
them  into  paroxysms — had  aroused  the  attention 
of  the  whole  country.  Special  precautions  were 
taken  to  prevent  any  disturbance,  and  Dreyfus 
was,  in  fact,  removed  from  the  prison  to  the  court 
before  the  crowd  had  assumed  large  proportions. 
The  court  was  filled  with  oilficers  of  all  arms  and 
grades,  and  some  fifty  reporters  were  allowed  to 
be  present.  Profound  silence  reigned  in  the  hall 
as  Dreyfus,  preceded  by  the  adjutant  apparitor 
and  escorted  by  Republican  guards,  entered. 
Something  like  a  thrill  of  emotion  passed 
through  the  audience  as  the  prisoner,  tall  and 
soldierly  in  appearance,  advanced  firmly  to  the 
bench  set  apart  for  him  and  bowed  to  the  court. 
It  was  noticed,  however,  that  his  eyes  were  filled 
with  tears,  and  that  he  preserved  his  self-control 
with  difficulty.  The  president  then  opened  the 
trial  with  an  interrogation  of  the  prisoner,  who 
stated  that  his  name  was  Alfred  Dreyfus ;  that  he 
was  thirty-five  years  of  age,  and  was  a  captain  of 
artillery;  born  at  Mulhouse  in  Alsace.  The 
president  then  called  upon  Major  Brisset,  who 
rose  and  requested  that  the  proceedings  might 
be  conducted  with  closed  doors,  on  the  ground 


24     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

that  pubUcity  would  be  "against  the  pubHc  in- 
terest." This  was  opposed  by  Maitre  Demange, 
counsel  for  Captain  Dreyfus,  who  submitted 
his  reasons  why  the  trial  should  be  public.  The 
president,  however,  forbade  the  advocate  to 
make  any  reference  to  the  actual  matter  of  the 
charge  against  the  prisoner.  Then  ensued  a 
long  discussion  between  the  representative  of 
the  prisoner,  the  president  of  the  court,  and  the 
government  commissioner.  "There  are  other  in- 
terests at  stake,"  exclaimed  Major  Brisset,  "than 
those  of  the  defense  and  of  the  prosecution." 
Maitre  Demange,  the  counsel  for  Dreyfus,  on 
referring  to  the  "solitary  document,"  was  cut 
short  by  the  president  of  the  court;  upon  his 
continuing  to  refer  to  it  the  court  rose.  On  re- 
suming a  quarter  of  an  hour  afterwards  the  court 
reprimanded  Maitre  Demange  for  having  in- 
sisted upon  "raising  the  discussion  of  the  essen- 
tials of  the  case"  and  pronounced  for  closed 
doors. 

WITH  CLOSED  DOORS. 

The  court  was  cleared  and  the  trial  was  con- 
tinued in  private,  the  witnesses  being  Du  Paty  de 
Clam,. Colonel  Henry  of  the  intelligence  depart- 
ment, and  three  experts  in  handwriting,  Pelletier, 
Charavay   and   Teyssoniere.     The   indictment, 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     25 

which  was  prepared  by  Major  d'Ormescheville, 
was  read,  and  the  experts  were  examined  at 
length.  Pelletier  denied  the  identity  of  Dreyhis' 
handwriting  with  that  of  the  bordereau ;  Chara- 
vay  thought  they  were  written  by  the  same  hand, 
but  afterwards  said  that  he  "would  never  have 
any  one  condemned  to  imprisonment  for  Hfe  on 
that  expertise  of  his."  Du  Paty  de  Clam  de- 
scribed the  different  experiments  he  had  made 
on  Dreyfus,  and  his  various  observations  of  his 
conduct,  such  as  "nervous  movements  of  the 
foot  when  interrogated,"  and  "trembling"  when 
asked  to  do  some  copying  from  dictation,  one 
of  the  documents  dictated  being  a  duplicate  of  a 
missing  document.  Colonel  Henry  said  he  was 
persuaded  of  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner,  for  rea- 
sons apart  from  those  which  appeared  in  the 
indictment,  and  when  pressed  to  speak  out  he 
exclaimed :  "I  am  a  soldier,  and  my  cap  must 
ignore  what  is  in  my  head." 

IMPRISONMENT    FOR    LIFE    AND 
DEGRADATION. 

The  verdict,  anxiously  awaited  by  the  crowd 
outside,  was  given  late  in  the  evening.  The 
president  of  the  court  read  it  out  by  gaslight  to 
the  prisoner.     The  verdict  was  "Guilty,"  and 


26    Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

the  sentence  was  perpetual  imprisonment  in  a 
fortified  place  and  militaiy  degradation. 

THE  DEGRADATION. 

The  degradation  of  the  unhappy  man  was  car- 
ried out  at  the  Ecole  Militaire  on  January  5, 
1895.  The  symbols  of  his  rank  were  stripped 
from  him;  his  sword  was  broken.  "Dreyfus," 
exclaimed  the  general  in  command,  "you  are  un- 
worthy to  bear  arms.  In  the  name  of  the  French 
people  we  degrade  you."  Dreyfus  raised  his 
arms,  and,  with  head  erect,  cried,  "I  am  innocent. 
I  swear  that  I  am  innocent.  You  degrade  an 
innocent  man."  The  crowd  replied  with  a  fierce 
shout  of  "A  mort!  A  mort!"  "Death  to  him!" 
Passing  a  group  of  reporters  on  his  shameful 
forced  march  round  the  square  before  the  as- 
sembled troops,  Dreyfus  said  to  them,  "You 
will  tell  France  that  I  am  innocent."  "Hold 
your  tongue,  miserable,"  was  the  reply,  "Traitor ! 
Judas!  Dirty  Jew!"  was  the  clamorous  and  re- 
echoing cry  roaring  in  his  ears  from  the  vast 
throngs. 


THE  degradation:  the  last  act  of  the 

CEREMONY 

After  his  unifonn  had  been  stripped  of  all  marks  of  his  rank, 
and  his  sword  had  been  broken,  the  unhappy  ofiBcer  was  made  to 
march  round  the  barrack  square  in  front  ofthe  troops.  He  pre- 
served his  fortitude  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  and  never  seemed 
to  falter. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     29 


CHAPTER   II. 

DEPORTATION    TO    DEVIL'S   ISLAND. 

And  so,  amid  insults  and  jeers  and  scoffs,  the 
"traitor"  in  his  stripped  uniform  was  handed  over 
to  the  gendarmes,  stepped  into  the  prison  van 
which  awaited  him  and  passed  on  to  his  doom — 
Hfe-long  imprisonment  on  an  island,  one  of  the 
lies  du  Salut,  oflf  the  coast  of  Guiana,  known  as 
the  Island  of  the  Devil.  He  disappeared  from 
France  and  Europe;  disappeared,  as  his  judges 
and  persecutors  thought,  forever — and  the 
thought  pleased  them  well;  disappeared  into  a 
living  grave.  But  he  left  upon  the  brink  of  it 
a  wife  and  a  few — a  very  few — friends.  To  her, 
before  he  was  put  on  board  the  ship  bound  for 
the  Devil's  Island,  he  wrote  the  following  letter : 

"In  promising  you  to  live,  to  keep  firm  until 
my  name  is  rehabilitated,  I  have  made  you  the 
greatest  sacrifice  that  a  man  of  feeling — a  man  of 
honor — from  whom  they  have  torn  his  honor, 
can  make.  Provided  only  that  God  help  me, 
that  my  physical  strength  does  not  leave  me. 


30    Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  I^rance. 

The  will  is  there  and  my  conscience,  which  re- 
proaches me  with  nothing,  bears  me  up.  So 
then,  my  darling,  do  all  in  the  world  you  can  to 
find  the  true  culprit;  never  relax  your  efforts 
for  a  moment.    It  is  my  only  hope." 

The  wife  was  true  to  this  solemn  charge. 

The  war  office,  Mercier,  Sandherr,  Gonse,  De 
Boisdeflfre,  Henry,  Du  Paty  de  Clam,  were  well 
pleased  with  the  result  of  the  court-martial. 
Sandherr  (since  dead)  pronounced  it  to  be  the 
chef  d'ouvre  of  the  headquarters  staff.  Major 
Du  Paty  de  Clam  was  promoted  to  a  colonelcy. 

Two  years  passed,  during  which  that  not  un- 
usual event  in  France,  a  change  of  ministry,  oc- 
curred. Meline  became  premier,  Hanotaux  for- 
eign minister,  Lebon  colonial  minister.  General 
Billot  succeeded  Mercier  at  the  war  office. 
Colonel  Picquart  was  now  head  of  the  intelli- 
gence department.  To  him  was  brought  one  day 
in  March,  1896,  as  had  been  brought  before  to 
Sandherr,  the  alleged  produce  of  a  spy's  rum- 
maging in  waste  paper  baskets  at  the  German 
embassy.  It  was  a  postcard,  known  as  a  petit 
bleu,  torn  into  fragments.  When  put  together 
it  read  as  follows : 

"I  await  before  everything  a  more  detailed  ex- 
planation than  that  which  you  gave  me  the  other 
day  upon  the  question  at  issue.    I  beg  you,  there- 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     31 

fore,  to  give  it  to  me  in  writing*,  so  that  I  can 
judge  if  I  may  continue  my  relations  with  the 

firm  of  R or  not." 

The  card  was  directed  to  "M.  le  Commandant 
Esterhazy,  27,  Rue  de  la  Bienfaisance." 

ENTRANCE  OF  ESTERHAZY. 

Who  was  "M.  le  Commandant  Esterhazy?" 
That  was  quickly  found  out;  he  was  a  major  of 
infantry  and  with  an  unfavorable  record.  Pic- 
quart  continued  his  researches  and  obtained 
specimens  of  Esterhazy's  writing.  It  was  the 
writing  of  the  bordereau.  Bertillon,  the  expert 
who  had  "identified"  the  writing  of  the  bordereau 
with  the  writing  of  Dreyfus,  pronounced  the 
specimen  of  Esterhazy's  writing  which  Colonel 
Picquart  showed  him  to  be  the  writing  of  the 
bordereau.  Picquart  himself  became  convinced 
that  Esterhazy  was  the  writer  of  the  document 
which  had  ruined  Dreyfus.  He  appealed  to  Gen- 
erals Gonse  and  De  Boisdefifre.  "It  is  my  duty 
to  assure  you,"  he  said,  "that  it  is  necessary  to* 
act  at  once."  Unfortunately  the  generals  were 
of  opinion,  it  would  seem,  that  "if  nothing  were 
said  nobody  would  be  any  the  wiser."  But  there 
were  two  men  in  the  war  office  who  were  dis- 
mayed at  Picquart's  discovery,  Du  Paty  de 
Clam  and  Commandant  Henry.    General  Billot, 


32     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

who  was  now  minister  of  war,  remained  im- 
mobile. 

With  the  advent  upon  the  scene  of  Picquart 
and  Esterhazy  the  affaire  Dreyfus  entered  upon 
a  new  phase.  The  pubhc,  who  up  to  that  time 
knew  httle  or  nothing,  began  to  know  some- 
thing; the  persecutors  of  Dreyfus  became  con- 
spirators. Picquart  had  arisen  as  the  champion 
of  innocence.  The  headquarters  staflf  and  those 
of  the  intelHgence  department  concerned  in  the 
condemnation  of  the  prisoner  of  the  He  Du 
Diable  set  to  work  to  counteract  Picquart.  The 
active  conspirator  was  Henry.  Dreyfus  must 
be  further  discredited,  Esterhazy  must  be  pro- 
tected. Picquart  must  be  headed  ofif.  Billot,  the 
war  minister,  had  been  impressed  by  Picquart's 
discoveries.  The  line  of  action  taken  by  the  con- 
spirators was  to  prejudice  him  against  Picquart 
and  to  furnish  fresh  and  convincing  proof 
against  Dreyfus.  Thenceforth  the  aflfaire  be- 
comes a  maze  of  intrigue  and  lying  and  forgery. 
The  deadly  maremma  of  the  Dreyfus  case  began 
to  unfold  itself  before  France. 

CAMPAIGN  OF  CONSPIRATORS. 

The  conspirators'  campaign  began  in  the 
press.  In  September,  1896,  there  appeared  in 
the  Eclair  an  article  stating  that  Dreyfus  had 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     33 

been  really  convicted  on  documents  secretly 
communicated  to  the  court-martial  and  that  one 
of  these  actually  mentioned  Dreyfus  by  name, 
as  it  contained  the  words  "Decidement  cet  ani- 
mal de  Dreyfus  devient  trop  exigeant."  [This 
was  a  false  quotation,  the  original  being  "ce 

canaille  de  D ,"  no  name  being  given.]    This 

was  the  first  intimated  to  the  public  that  there 
was  a  secret  dossier,  secretly  communicated  to 
the  judges,  and  it  told  in  the  public  mind  rather 
in  favor  of  Dreyfus  than  against  him.  It  was 
at  this  time  also  that  Bernard  Lazare  brought 
out  his  first  pamphlet  in  favor  of  the  innocence 
of  Dreyfus. 

Upon  this  Mr.  Castelin,  deputy  for  the  Aisne, 
gave  notice  of  an  interpellation  of  the  govern- 
ment, to  be  made  on  November  18,  1896.  It 
became,  therefore,  essential  that  War  Minister 
Billot  should  make  up  his  mind,  for  it  was  he 
that  would  have  to  deal  with  the  interpellation 
in  the  chamber. 

Henry  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  As  was 
afterward  known,  he  forged  the  necessary  docu- 
ment for  the  strengthening  of  Billot's  mind.  It 
was  a  note  (in  atrocious  French)  from  Paniz- 
zardi,  the  Italian,  to  Schwartzkoppen,  the  Ger- 
man attache,  and  it  read  as  follows : 

"My  Dear  Friend:     I  read  that  a  deputy  is 


34     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  I^rance. 

going  to  interpellate  upon  Dreyfus,  if  *  *  * 
I  shall  say  that  I  never  had  relations  with  that 
Jew.  That  is  agreed.  If  you  are  asked  say  like- 
wise, for  no  one  must  ever  know  what  has  passed 
with  him." 

Henry  showed  this  precious  production  to 
De  Boisdeffre  and  Gonse,  and  they  showed  it  to 
Billot ;  none  of  them  showed  it  to  Picquart.  Bil- 
lot, however,  referred  to  it  in  conversation  with 
Picquart,  who  at  once  challenged  its  authenticity. 
But  it  was  good  enough  for  Billot.  He  went  to 
the  chamber,  stated  solemnly  that  the  Dreyfus 
court-martial  was  "regularly  composed,"  that 
the  appeal  was  unanimously  rejected,  that  the  af- 
fair was  a  chose  jugee  and  that  the  reasons  of 
state  which  necessitated,  in  1894,  the  hearing  of 
the  case  in  camera  had  lost  none  of  their  weight. 

Picquart  was  then  got  rid  of  by  being  sent 
on  a  "mission,"  first  to  Nancy,  then  to  Besancon 
and  the  Alps,  then  to  Algiers  and  finally  to  the 
extreme  south  of  the  frontier  of  Tunis,  where  he 
was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Fourth 
regiment  of  Algerian  sharpshooters,  General 
Gonse  oracularly  remarking  that  Picquart  had 
been  "hypnotized  by  the  Dreyfus-Esterhazy 
question."  Colonel  Henry,  victorious  so  far  over 
Picquart,  succeeded  him  as  chief  of  the  intelli- 
gence department.     Picquart's  friends  were  not 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     35 

told  where  he  was  and  his  letters  were  opened 
by  the  war  office  before  being  sent  on  to  him. 

In  May,  1897,  Picquart  wrote  to  Henry  depre- 
cating the  mystery  which  was  made  as  to  his 
whereabouts  in  Paris.  Henry  wrote  back  to  the 
effect  that  the  mystery  was  the  result  of  his  own 
action  in  opening  letters  in  the  post,  in  attempt- 
ing to  suborn  officers  to  speak  of  a  certain  writ- 
ing being  that  of  a  certain  person,  with  other 
allusions  which  so  alarmed  Picquart  that  he  came 
to  Paris  on  leave,  saw  M.  Leblois,  his  friend  and 
lawyer,  and  placed  in  his  hands  Henry's  letter 
and  correspondence  he  had  had  with  General 
Gonse.  He  then  returned  to  his  duty  in  Tunis. 
The  proposed  inquiry  as  to  Esterhazy  on  the 
lines  of  Picquart's  idea  was  dropped.  All  seemed 
to  be  going  on  just  as  the  conspirators  wished. 

THREE  NEW  CHAMPIONS  APPEAR. 

But  the  friends,  the  syndicate,  as  the  anti- 
Semites  sneeringly  called  it,  of  Dreyfus  were 
active.  His  wife  and  they  had  not  forgotten  his 
despairing  cry,  "It  is  my  only  hope."  M. 
Scheurer-Kestner,  vice-president  of  the  senate, 
and  an  Alsatian  countryman  of  Dreyfus,  arose 
as  a  defender  of  right  and  justice.  With  him 
M.  Matthieu  Dreyfus,  the  prisoner's  brother, 
united  in  the  denunciation  of  Esterhazy,  and. 


36     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  I^rance. 

later,  Emile  Zola,  joined  the  thin  ranks  of  the 
honest  men  who  dared  to  speak  up  for  truth  and 
justice.  In  November,  1897,  Matthieu  Dreyfus, 
by  advice  of  Scheurer-Kestner,  w^rote  to  the  sec- 
retary for  war  accusing  Esterhazy  of  being  the 
author  of  the  bordereau,  and  requesting  that 
justice  be  done  to  his  brother. 

SCHEURER-KESTNER,  VICE-PRESI- 
DENT OF  THE  SENATE. 

M.  Scheurer-Kestner,  vice-president  of  the 
senate,  was  one  of  the  vast  majority  of  French- 
men who  believed  in  the  guilt  of  Dreyfus,  be- 
cause they  could  not  believe  that  the  headquar- 
ters could  have  made  a  mistake,  and  at  the  same 
time  he  was  among  those  few  who  wondered 
what  motive  a  rich  officer  like  Dreyfus,  occuf5y- 
ing  a  high  position,  could  possibly  have  in  be- 
traying his  country.  The  story  goes  that  M. 
Scheurer-Kestner  once  expressed  this  thought 
at  dinner  when  an  officer  present  said  he  could 
explain  the  motive.  Dreyfus  had  bought  a  house 
in  Paris,  paying  for  it  228,000  francs  (over 
£9,000),  and  thus  he  had  need  of  large  sums  of 
money.  The  officer  went  on  to  say  that  he  had 
this  fact  from  a  member  of  the  court-martial 
that  tried  Dreyfus.  Scheurer-Kestner  found 
the  story  absolutely  false,  and  began  to  make 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     37 

further  inquiries.  He  met  Leblois,  Picquart's 
friend,  who  laid  the  case  before  him;  gave  him 
Gonse's  letters  to  Picquart;  he  called  on  Billot, 
urging  him  to  make  inquiries ;  and,  having  con- 
vinced himself  of  the  innocence  of  Dreyfus,  took 
his  position  without  hesitation  as  the  principal 
mover  in  the  revision  movement,  informing  sev- 
eral of  his  colleagues  of  the  definite  conclusion 
at  which  he  had  arrived.  This  was  in  July,  1897. 
The  Figaro  now  boldly  called  for  revision,  and 
the  revision  campaign,  which  began  under  the 
auspices  of  Scheurer-Kestner,  gained  strength, 
slowly  and  amid  immense  difficulties,  but  surely. 
But  ruin  still  marked  the  path  of  the  conspirators. 
Forzinetti  was  cashiered  for  declaring  to  M. 
Henri  Rochefort  his  belief  in  the  innocence  of 
Dreyfus.  Picquart's  premises  in  the  Rue  Yvon 
Villarcean  were  searched,  and  he  himself  recalled 
from  his  mission  in  Tunis,  to  be  examined  by 
General  de  Pellieux,  the  government  commis- 
sioner, in  matters  pending  against  Esterhazy. 


38    Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 


CHAPTER   III. 

"VIVE  ESTERHAZY!" 

For  Esterhazy,  with  the  boldness — of  despair 
shall  we  say? — demanded  that  a  court-martial 
should  be  held  on  him,  and  held  it  was,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1898.  The  offenses  charged  against  him 
were  that  he  had  written  the  bordereau  and  was 
in  treasonable  correspondence  with  Schwartz- 
koppen.  He  admitted  that  the  handwriting  of 
the  bordereau  was  his  own,  but  that  it  was  a  trac- 
ing made  by  Dreyfus  upon  his  writing,  and  then 
put  together.  As  to  the  petit  bleu,  that  was  a 
forgery  by  Picquart.  The  court-martial  which 
was  a  court  even  more  remarkable  than  that 
which  had  condemned  Dreyfus,  accepted  Ester- 
hazy 's  story,  and  acquitted  him.  Picquart  was 
a  witness,  but  when  he  entered  the  box  the  court 
immediately  made  itself  a  secret  court.  Ester- 
hazy  left  the  court  with  his  companion,  Mdlle. 
Pays,  on  his  arm,  and  the  pair  received  an  ova- 
tion in  the  street  from  the  public.  "Vive  Ester- 
hazy  !    Vive  I'armee !"  was  their  cry. 


Pi     Q 

H    ■" 
^      V 

r  1       V 

H 
<! 

< 
oi 
Q 


e 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     41 

After  Esterhazy's  acquittal  Picquart  was  ar- 
rested and  imprisoned,  and  then  tried  before  a 
mihtary  court  of  inquiry,  charged  with  showing 
and  divulging  documents,  and  giving  to  his 
lawyer  Leblois  his  correspondence  with  General 
Gonse.  The  last  charge  only  was  found  proved, 
and  Picquart  went  back  to  prison  and  was  after- 
wards dismissed  from  the  army. 

"J'ACCUSE." 

And  now,  as  the  next  development,  no  less  a 
person  than  Emile  Zola  took  up  the  cudgels  for 
the  prisoner  of  the  He  du  Diable.  In  January 
of  the  present  year  Zola  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
president  of  the  republic,  published  in  the  Au- 
rore,  in  which  was  a  series  of  formal  accusations, 
each  beginning  with  "J'accuse,"  against  the 
courts-martial  which  had  tried  Dreyfus  and 
Esterhazy.  Zola's  object  was  to  be  prosecuted 
for  defamation,  so  that  light  could  be  thrown 
on  the  great  case.  That  object  was  only  par- 
tially attained.  The  minister  of  war  resolved  to 
prosecute,  but  in  order  to  prevent  the  re-opening 
of  the  Dreyfus  case  the  matter  selected  from 
Zola's  letter — a  very  long  one — was  confined  to 
the  following: 

"I  accuse  the  first  court-martial  of  having  vio- 
lated the  law  in  condemning  an  accused  person 


42     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

on  a  document  kept  secret.  And  I  accuse  the 
second  court-martial  of  having  by  order  screened 
this  illegaHty,  committing  in  its  turn,  that  which 
in  a  judge  is  a  crime — knowingly  acquitting  a 
guilty  person." 

TRIAL  OF  ZOLA. 

The  president  of  the  Court  of  Assize  which 
tried  him  did  what  he  could  to  prevent  Zola's 
witnesses  from  giving  evidence  which  bore  .on 
the  Dreyfus  trial,  and  there  were  formidable  bar- 
riers which  could  be  relied  upon  to  keep  out  the 
light.  There  was  the  chose  jugee,  otherwise  the 
Dreyfus  trial;  the  huis  clos,  or  closed  doors  of 
both  the  Dreyfus  and  Esterhazy  trials ;  the  ques- 
tion of  "state  secrets,"  and  "professional  se- 
crets." Maitre  Labori,  Zola's  counsel,  unable  to 
contend  against  these  obstacles,  was  not,  how- 
ever, wholly  debarred  from  giving  his  own  com- 
plete view  of  the  Dreyfus  case,  and  from  eliciting 
from  witnesses  what  seemed  to  establish  certain 
facts  of  the  greatest  importance,  namely,  the  ille- 
gality of  Dreyfus's  condemnation,  the  error  as  to 
the  bordereau,  and  the  identity  of  its  real  author. 
The  case,  as  heard  on  the  7th  of  February  last, 
went  from  the  first  against  Zola,  for,  strange  as 
it  may  seem  to  those  who  are  not  familiar  with 
the  remarkable  methods  of  the  administration  of 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     43 

justice  in  France,  the  judge,  M.  Delegorgue, 
decided  that  he  could  not  call  evidence  on  the 
points  raised  by  the  prosecution  and  on  the 
charges  made  in  his  famous  letter  to  the  presi- 
dent of  the  republic.  During  the  second  day  of 
the  trial  Zola  exclaimed  that  he  wished  to  be 
treated  as  fairly  as  thieves  or  murderers  were 
treated.  They  had  the  right  to  defend  them- 
selves, but  he  was  deprived  of  it.  There  were 
many  wrangles  between  judge  and  counsel,  and 
the  advocate-general  followed,  and  the  court  de- 
cided that  no  question  foreign  to  the  indict- 
ment would  be  allowed. 

"MY  DUTY  IS  NOT  TO  TELL  THE 
TRUTH." 

M.  Casimir-Perier,  the  ex-president,  on  being 
sworn,  interrupted  the  judge  by  saying,  "Pardon 
me,  I  cannot  swear  to  tell  the  truth  since  that  is 
just  what  I  may  not  tell.  My  duty  is  not  to  tell 
the  truth."  General  de  Boisdeffre  created  con- 
siderable sensation  by  stating  that  "in  his  own 
view  the  guilt  of  Dreyfus  was  certain,  and  that 
there  were  facts  both  anterior  and  subsequent  to 
the  trial  which  made  his  certainty  quite  unshak- 
able." General  Mercier,  former  minister  of  war, 
expressed  his  opinion  that  Dreyfus  was  legally 
adjudged  a  traitor.     Esterhazy,  who  sheltered 


44    Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

himself  behind  refusals  to  reply,  General  de  Pel- 
lieux,  who  made  a  violent  speech,  and  hinted 
darkly  at  a  day  of  danger  and  butchery  for  the 
sons  of  the  jurymen,  Picquart  and  others  were 
examined  amidst  more  or  less  disorder  and  in^ 
cessant  obstruction  of  Zola's  advocate  by  the 
judge.  The  evidence  thus  brought  forward,  and 
Maitre  Labori's  tremendous  onslaught,  caused 
the  greatest  commotion.  The  general  staflf, 
much  perturbed,  decided  to  take  firm  steps  to 
secure  Zola's  conviction. 

A  BOGEY  TO  FRIGHTEN  THE  JURY. 

General  Pellieux  and  General  de  Boisdeffre 
made  some  remarkable  observations  to  the  jury. 
"If,"  said  the  former,  "the  chiefs  are  discredited 
in  the  eyes  of  the  soldiers,  your  sons,  gentlemen 
of  the  jury,  will  be  led  to  the  slaughter."  Gen- 
eral de  Boisdeffre  threatened  the  resignation  of 
the  chiefs  of  the  army,  and,  as  a  final  coup,  the 
new  "secret  documents,"  already  referred  to,  was 
produced  in  court  by  General  Pellieux — that 
"letter"  from  Panizzardi  to  Schwartzkoppen  at 
the  time  of  the  Castelin  interpellation  intercepted 
by  the  vigilance  of  the  government!  General 
Pellieux  invited  his  colleagues  De  Boisdeflfre  and 
Gonse  to  confirm  this ;  they  did  so.  Zola's  coun- 
sel, however,  was  not  permitted  to  see  the  docu- 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     45 

merit  nor  to  cross-examine  the  generals  upon  it. 
Picquart  had  the  courage  to  say  that  the  docu- 
ment was  a  forgery.  It  had  turned  up  at  the 
moment  it  was  wanted  to  show  that  Esterhazy 
was  not  the  author  of  the  bordereau,  and  its 
wording  was  against  its  genuineness.  AUo- 
gether  he  had  always  considered  it  a  forgery. 
The  jury,  who  had  been  under  tremendous  pres- 
sure during  the  whole  trial,  brought  in  the  only 
verdict  they  dared  to  bring — a  verdict  against 
Zola  and  against  the  Aurore  by  a  majority  of  8 
to  4.  The  defendants  were  condemned  to  a  fine 
of  120I,  each;  Zola  to  one  year's  and  the  editor 
of  the  Aurore  to  four  months'  imprisonment. 
Later  on  Zola  carried  his  case  to  the  Court  of 
Appeal,  which  quashed  the  judgment  of  the 
court  of  Assize  on  the  ground  that  the  action 
should  have  been  brought  by  the  court-martial 
which  he  had  libelled,  and  not  by  the  minister  of 
war.  A  second  trial  accordingly  took  place,  at 
which  Zola  declined  to  be  present,  and  was  ac- 
cordingly sentenced  once  again.  He  shook  the 
dust  of  his  country  from  his  shoes  and  went  into 
exile  into  a  more  honest  land. 

MINISTER  OF  WAR  CAVAIGNAC  "FIN- 
ISHES" THE  DREYFUS  CASE. 

In  June,  1898,  in  consequence  of  the  elections, 


46     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

the  Meline  cabinet  gave  way  to  the  Brisson  cabi- 
net, M.  Sarrien  became  minister  of  justice ;  M. 
Cavaignac  was  appointed  minister  of  war — the 
man  of  men  to  put  an  end  to  the  Dreyfus  case. 
He  was  resolved  to  do  this,  and  he  made  a  per- 
sonal study  of  it.  The  result  of  the  minister's 
studies  were  given  to  France  and  the  world  in  a 
great  speech  in  the  chamber.  Considerations 
superior  to  reasons  of  law,  he  said,  now  made  it 
necessary  for  the  government  to  bring  before 
the  chamber  and  the  country  the  facts  which  had 
come  to  confirm  the  conviction  of  Dreyfus.  The 
guilt  of  Dreyfus  was  an  absolute  certainty,  and 
it  was  based  on  Dreyfus'  own  confessions  and 
on  documents  in  the  intelligence  departments. 
The  "confession"  was  the  alleged  remark  made 
by  Dreyfus  in  the  presence  of  Captain  Anthoine 
and  repeated  by  him  to  Captain  d'Attel,  to  the 
effect  that  what  he,  Dreyfus,  had  handed  over 
was  worth  nothing,  and  that  if  he  had  been  let 
alone  he  would  have  had  more  in  exchange. 
Another  "confession"  was  noted  by  Captain  Le- 
brun  Renault,  who  commanded  the  escort  on  the 
day  of  Dreyfus's  degradation,  and  was  to  the 
effect  that  Dreyfus  had  said  it  was  not  original 
documents  but  copies  that  were  handed  over,  and 
that  they  were  in  any  case  unimportant  papers, 
and  that  he  did  so  in  order  to  obtain  serious 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     47 

ones.  The  documents  adduced  by  M.  Cavaignac 
in  his  speech  were  not  the  famous  bordereau,  but 
three  others.  One  of  them,  dated  in  March, 
1894,  referred  to  a  person  named  D. ;  the  second, 
dated  in  the  following  month,  contained  the  ex- 
pression "Cette  canaille  de  D "  the  same  as 

that  in  the  other  document  brought  forward  by 
the  Eclair:  and,  lastly,  the  absolute  proof  which 
had  been  brought  by  General  Pellieux  to  the 
Zola  trial.  As  to  this  document,  said  M.  Cavaig- 
nac, its  authenticity  depended  not  only  on  its 
origin,  but  on  its  similarity  with  a  document 
written  on  the  same  paper,  and  with  the  same 
blue  pencil,  and  that  its  "moral  authenticity" 
was  established  by  its  being  part  of  a  corre- 
spondence exchanged  between  the  same  persons, 
Panizzardi,  the  Italian  attache,  and  Schwartzkop- 
pen,  the  German  attache,  in  1896.  The  chamber 
hailed  M.  Cavaignac's  speech  as  a  final  blow  to 
Dreyfus  and  all  who  believed  in  him,  and  ordered 
it  to  be  placarded  all  over  France. 

Alas,  poor  Cavaignac!  Alas,  poor  France! 
Within  a  few  weeks  the  edifice  built  upon  these 
documents — whose  "material  and  moral  authen- 
ticity" Cavaignac  had  weighed,  and  the  3,600 
communes  of  France  had  read,  placarded  on 
their  walls — crumbled  to  dust. 


48    Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

ESTERHAZY  AS  AN  UHLAN. 

But  Cavaignac  did  even  more.  He  ordered 
Esterhazy  to  be  brought  before  a  court  of  miH- 
tary  inquiry,  not,  apparently,  to  answer  any  spe- 
cific charge,  but  to  justify  his  mihtary  career. 
Now,  during  the  mihtary  career  of  Esterhazy,  it 
is  alleged  that  he  wrote  to  his  cousin,  Madame 
de  Boulancy,  in  1882,  a  certain  letter  which  was 
among  a  batch  seized  by  General  de  Pellieux  in 
the  proceedings  preliminary  to  the  court-mar- 
tial on  Esterhazy,  a  letter  which  was  highly  un- 
complimentary to  the  French  nation  and  army. 
It  is  "an  accursed  people,"  he  said,  and  he  is  con- 
vinced that  they  are  "not  worth  even  the  cart- 
ridges for  killing  them."  He  would  be  quite 
pleased  to  be  slain  as  a  captain  of  Uhlans  while 
he  was  sabring  them,  and  the  sight  of  Paris  "be- 
neath the  red  sun  of  battle,  given  over  to  pillage 
by  a  hundred  thousand  drunken  soldiers,"  is  his 
"favorite  dream."  Not  pleasant  reading,  surely, 
for  the  members  of  the  French  secret  court  of  in- 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     49 

quiry.  Other  httle  matters  relating  to  his  pri- 
vate hfe,  the  writing  of  threatening  letters  to  the 
president  of  the  republic  (written,  it  seems,  at 
Du  Paty  de  Clam's  dictation),  and  certain  irreg- 
ular proceedings  before  and  after  his  court-mar- 
tial were  before  the  court,  the  judges  of  which 
answered  the  questions  submitted  to  them  as  fol- 
lows: Upon  the  facts  before  the  court  ought 
Esterhazy  to  be  cashiered? 

1.  For  habitual  misconduct.  Ayes,  3;  Noes,  2. 

2.  For  grave  offense  against  discipline.  No, 
unanimously. 

3.  For  offense  against  honor.  Ayes,  I ; 
Noes,  4. 

General  ZuHnden,  the  military  governor  of 
Paris,  in  sending  the  finding  of  the  court  to 
Cavaignac,  minister  of  war,  pointed  out  that,  as 
the  decision  was  not  unanimous,  it  would  be  in 
accordance  with  the  usage  of  the  army  to  inflict 
only  a  disciplinary  punishment  by  withdrawing 
Esterhazy  from  the  active  list.  The  minister  de- 
cided, however,  that  Esterhazy  should  be  cash- 
iered. 

Not  long  after,  Du  Paty  de  Clam  was  removed 
from  the  active  list.  Cavaignac  dealt  also  with 
Picquart,  who  had  written  to  the  premier  offer- 
ing to  prove  that  one  of  the  three  documents 
spoken  of  by  Cavaignac  in  the  chamber  was  a 


50     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

forgery.  He  was  proceeded  against,  however, 
for  having  communicated  to  Leblois  documents 
aflfecting  the  defense  of  the  state,  and  lodged  in 
jail.  "^ 

A  BOLT  FROM  THE  BLUE. 

Such  were  the  principal  events  of  the  sum- 
mer of  1898 ;  but  it  was  not  to  pass  without  one 
other  event  which  shook  the  placarded  com- 
munes of  France  to  their  respective  centers. 
Suddenly,  in  August,  1898,  came  the  startling 
news  that  Colonel  Henry,  the  head  of  the  intel- 
ligence department,  the  mainstay  of  the  prosecu- 
tion of  Dreyfus,  the  Henry  who  had  found  new 
proofs  of  guilt  when  they  were  wanted,  the  con- 
scientious soldier  who  had  asserted  that  "his  cap 
must  not  know  what  was  in  his  head,"  who  had 
pointed  to  Dreyfus  in  court  as  the  traitor  with  a 
dramatic  "le  traitre,  le  voila,"  had  confessed  to 
having  forged  the  very  documents  quoted  by  the 
minister  of  war,  Cavaignac,  as  absolute  proofs  of 
Dreyfus'  guilt !  Then  came  the  news  that  Henry 
was  a  prisoner  in  Mont  Valerien,  and,  finally, 
that  he  had  cut  his  throat  with  a  razor.  The 
death  of  Henry  was  the  death-knell  of  Cavaignac 
as  war  minister.  He  resigned.  General  de  Bois- 
deflfre  resigned  with  him.  Zurlinden  was  ap- 
pointed war  minister.    He  also  studies  the  Drey- 


H 

O 

U 

"-■  a 

o 

yj  >! 

u  " 

H  -3 

W  -i 


< 
H 

<: 
u 

b 

o 

s    S 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     53 

fus  papers,  and  at  the  end  of  a  week  resigns  and 
goes  back  to  his  governorship  of  Paris.  General 
Chanoine  takes  his  place.  Esterhazy  at  once 
crosses  the  frontier,  for  there  is  no  knowing 
what  Henry  may  have  said.  The  air  is  cleared  a 
little  of  some  of  its  pestilential  vapors. 

"HAUTE  POLITIQUE." 

And  now  the  question  arose,  among  many 
other  questions  which  have  not  yet  been  fully 
answered,  how  the  forgery  was  brought  home 
to  Henry?  What  led  M.  Cavaignac  to  resume 
inquiries  into  the  Dreyfus  case  after  his  con- 
clusive speech  which  had  been  triumphantly  pla- 
carded all  over  France?  Was  it  his  consuming 
zeal  for  the  continued  study  of  the  case,  or  was 
it  from  the  fact  that  the  German  and  Italian 
governments,  which  had  long  before  denounced 
the  Panizzardi-Schwartzkoppen  correspondence 
as  forgeries,  insisted  upon  being  believed? 
Weeks  before  the  Zola  trial  the  two  govern- 
ments had  informed  the  French  minister  for  for- 
eign affairs  that  the  forgeries  had  been  revealed 
to  them — probably  by  the  forger  himself,  a  man 
named  Lemercier-Picard,  who  afterwards 
hanged  himself.  The  French  government  and 
the  war  office  had  utterly  disregarded  the  repudi- 
ations of  the  Italian  and  German  governments 


54    Dreyfus  and  tHe  Shame  of  France. 

that  they  had  had  any  connection  with  Dreyfus. 
Was  M.  Cavaignac  now  compelled  by  them  to 
take  notice  of  that  repudiation,  and  had  that  led 
to  the  catastrophe  of  Colonel  Henry?  It  is  be- 
lieved that  the  discovery  of  Henry's  forgery 
arose  from  the  smartness  of  Captain  Cuignet,  of 
the  intelligence  department,  who,  with  an  extra 
strong  lamp,  had  detected  that  the  paper  of  the 
"absolute  proof"  document  produced  by  General 
Pellieux  at  the  Zola  trial  was  not  identical  with 
the  paper  of  the  rest  of  the  correspondence  as 
M.  Cavaignac  had  thought  it  was.  However 
this  may  be,  the  chief  of  the  intelligence  depart- 
ment of  the  French  army,  the  accuser  of  Dreyfus, 
the  enemy  of  Picquart,  the  supporter  of  Ester- 
hazy,  confessed  himself  the  forger  of  a  document 
which  was  intended  to  rivet  still  tighter  the 
chains  on  a  helpless  and  possibly  innocent  pris- 
oner, and,  having  so  confessed,  killed  himself. 

THE  TURN  OF  THE  TIDE. 

To  Sarrien,  the  strong  minister  of  justice,  and 
to  Picquart,  always  honest  and  fearless,  belong 
the  honor,  under  the  Brisson  cabinet,  of  promot- 
ing the  work  of  the  revision  of  the  court-martial. 
Revision  was  now  in  the  air.  The  efifect  pro- 
duced by  the  suicide  of  Henry  was  tremendous. 
"It  carried  conviction,"  says  Mr.  Conybeare  in 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     55 

his  book  on  the  Dreyfus  case,  "to  many  who 
were  wavering,  and  stirred  the  consciences  of 
thousands  of  RepubUcans  who  had  hitherto  pre- 
tended to  themselves  that  no  responsibiHty  lay 
on  them.  A  majority  of  the  constituencies  were 
now  in  favor  of  revision."  Brisson's  cabinet  was 
committed  to  it,  though  of  course  Zurlinden,  and 
after  him  Chanoine,  ministers  of  war,  remained 
obdurate,  shutting  their  eyes  to  the  light  and 
keeping  their  brains  in  the  conveniently  addled 
state  demanded  by  the  "honor  of  the  army."  Pic- 
quart,  with  his  clear  brain  and  wide-open  eye, 
applied  to  Brisson  from  prison  for  leave  to  write 
to  him  all  he  knew;  he  was  referred  to  Sarrien, 
who  was  ready  to  listen  and  to  read.  Picquart 
accordingly  wrote  (in  September,  1898),  describ- 
ing the  secret  dossier  as  he  knew  it  in  1896,  and 
stating  that  the  fact  that  it  had  been  secretly 
communicated  to  the  judges  of  Dreyfus*  court- 
martial  was  well  known  to  Mercier,  De  Bois- 
deflFre,  Sandherr,  Gonse,  Henry,  and  Du  Paty  de 
Clam.  Zurlinden,  minister  of  war,  hearing  of 
this,  forwarded  to  Sarrien  a  memorandum  show- 
ing that  Picquart  was  not  to  be  trusted,  and 
ought,  in  fact,  to  be  prosecuted  for  forging  the 
petit  bleu.  Zurlinden  pushed  matters  still  fur- 
ther.    He  applied  to  the  cabinet  to  bring  Pic- 


56     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

quart  to  a  court-martial  for  that  alleged  offense. 
The  cabinet,  all  honor  to  it,  refused. 

Sarrien,  taking  the  measure  of  Zurlinden,  went 
on,  and  at  a  ministerial  council  held  in  the  middle 
of  September,  under  the  presidency  of  the  presi- 
dent of  the  republic,  made  a  statement.  He  ad- 
duced paragraph  4  of  article  No.  443  of  the  Code 
of  Criminal  Instruction,  which  provides  for  the 
re-opening  of  a  case  if  after  a  condemnatory  ver- 
dict facts  should  transpire  or  occur,  or  docu- 
ments unknown  at  the  time  of  trial  should  be 
shown  to  be  of  a  nature  calculated  to  establish 
the  innocence  of  the  person  condemned ;  and  he 
then  passed  on  logically  to  the  confession  of 
forgery  by  Henry,  and  found  that  it  was  calcu- 
lated to  throw  a  legitimate  suspicion  upon  his 
evidence  for  prosecution  before  the  military  trib- 
unal which  sentenced  Dreyfus.  The  ministerial 
council  was  divided  in  opinion.  The  war  min- 
ister, Zurlinden,  was,  of  course,  against  the  re- 
opening of  the  case,  so  was  M.  Tillaye,  the  min- 
ister of  public  works.  The  president  himself,  it 
is  said,  considered  that  embarrassments  might 
arise — ^as,  indeed,  they  undoubtedly  would,  and 
will,  for  many  who  have  been  connected  with  the 
affair.  The  specter  of  la  haute  politique,  of  for- 
eign complications,  was  present  as  always,  and 
the  military  reign  of  terror  was  not  yet  over. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     57 

But  in  the  end  the  matter  was  referred  to  the 
permanent  commission  of  revision  of  the  minis- 
try of  justice — not  to  decide  upon  the  guilt  or  in- 
nocence of  Dreyfus,  but  upon  the  question 
whether  the  case  should  or  should  not  be  re- 
tried by  carrying  it  to  the  court  of  appeal.  The 
commission  met  but  could  not  agree,  and  then 
the  Brisson  cabinet  took  the  short  cut  which, 
but  for  the  necessity  of  endless  formality  so  char- 
acteristic of  the  French,  one  would  have  thought 
could  have  been  taken  at  first ;  it  applied  through 
the  procureur  to  the  court  of  appeal  direct.  M. 
Bard,  one  of  the  members  of  the  court,  was  in- 
structed to  report  upon  the  case,  and  thus,  under 
Brisson  and  Sarrien,  was  taken  the  first  great 
step  towards  revision,  and  the  first  legal  blow 
dealt  at  the  military  party. 


58     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 


CHAPTER  V. 

FALL  OF  THE  BRISSON  CABINET. 

But  terrific  obstacles  were  yet  to  be  overcome 
and  disasters  were  to  be  endured — those  swift 
and  sudden  disasters  which  gather  strength,  and 
fall,  swift  and  sudden  as  tropical  thunderstorms, 
in  Latin  countries.  Within  a  month  of  the  carry- 
ing of  the  question  to  the  Court  of  Appeal  there 
was  a  debate  in  the  chamber  on  the  action  of  the 
government  (on  October  25,  1898),  during  which 
Chanoine,  minister  of  war,  mounted  the  tribune 
and  announced  that,  as  representing  the  army,  he 
could  not  be  a  party  to  revision.  The  Brisson 
cabinet  immediately  resigned,  and  on  the  31st 
a  new  cabinet  succeeded,  Dupuy  (who  was  in 
office  at  the  time  of  Dreyfus'  court-martial)  as 
premier;  Lebret,  minister  of  justice;  Freycinet, 
minister  of  war;  Delcasse,  foreign  minister — 
an  anti-revisionist  cabinet ;  Lebret,  especially, 
a  determined  enemy  of  revision.  Here,  then, 
was  a  blow  to  the  cause — and  it  was  most  bitterly 
felt;  but  there  remained  the  great  fact — the  ap- 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     59 

plication  to  the  Court  of  Appeal  had  been  made, 
and  could  not  be  interfered  with.  The  new 
cabinet  admitted  as  much  on  assuming  office. 

PICQUART  AGAIN  ARRAIGNED. 

Zurlinden  and  Chanoine,  however,  had  their 
way  with  the  gallant  Picquart.  They  could  not 
forgive  his  letters  to  Sarrien,  and  on  September 
21  he  was  brought  before  the  Correctional 
Tribunal  on  the  charge  of  communicating  docu- 
ments. The  military  party  demanded  that  he 
should  be  surrendered  to  them  to  be  tried,  later, 
for  forgery.  The  judge  yielded,  but  Picquart, 
before  being  removed,  uttered  in  the  court  the 
following  words — the  clear,  trumpet  blast  of  an 
honest  man  and  a  brave  one: 

"I  absolutely  oppose  my  being  surrendered. 
I  submit  my  cause  to  your  wisdom,  but  I  have 
something  further  to  say.  It  is  only  here,  and 
a  few  minutes  ago,  that  I  learned  the  reality  of 
the  abominable  plot;  in  which  this  morning  I 
still  could  not  believe.  It  is  the  charge  of  forgery 
in  regard  to  the  petit  bleu.  You  would  have  un- 
derstood the  matter  more  plainly  if  this  trial  had 
taken  place,  for  it  would  have  enlightened  you 
with  regard  to  the  good  faith  of  my  accusers. 
I  shall  perhaps  this  evening  go  to  the  Cherche 
Midi,  and  now  is  probably  the  last  time  prior  to 


6o    Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

secret  trial  that  I  can  say  a  word  in  pubHc.  I 
would  have  people  know,  if  there  be  found  in 
my  cell  the  rope  of  Lemercier  Picard,  or  the 
razor  of  Henry,  that  I  have  been  assassinated. 
For  a  man  like  myself  cannot  for  an  instant  think 
of  suicide.  I  shall  face  this  accusation  erect  and 
fearless,  and  with  the  same  serenity  with  which  I 
have  ever  met  my  accusers.  That  is  what  I  had 
to  say,  Monsieur  le  President." 

This  speech  was  received  with  shouts  of  "Vive 
Picquart !"  and  "A  bas  les  faussaires !"  Picquart 
was  handed  over  to  his  enemies,  but  he  had 
saved  himself  from  assassination  by  those  bold 
and  memorable  words.  Eventually  he  was  de- 
livered from  the  clwtches  of  his  persecutors  by 
an  application  to  the  Court  of  Appeal,  which  de^ 
cided  that  the  proceedings  pending  against  him 
should  be  superseded ;  that  the  charge  of  forgery 
and  some  of  the  other  charges  should  go  to  the 
Criminal  Court,  and  two  other  charges  to  the 
military  tribunal.  And  thus  Picquart  went  back 
to  a  civil  prison,  there  to  linger — another  inno- 
cent man  deprived  of  liberty.  The  man  Lemer- 
cier Picard,  to  whom  he  referred,  was  one  of  the 
gang  of  forgers  who  attempted  to  hoodwink 
M.  Reinach,  a  leading  member  of  the  Dreyfus 
syndicate,  and  did  hoodwink  Rochefort,  of  the 
Intransigeant,  who  accused  Reinach    and    the 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     6i 

syndicate  with  the  forgery.  Reinach  got  dam- 
ages for  libel,  and  Lemercier  Picard  was  found 
hanging  by  a  noose  in  the  attic  where  he  lived. 

BEFORE  THE  COURT  OF  APPEAL. 

On  October  27,  "1898,  the  Criminal  Court  of 
the  Cour  de  Cassation — the  Court  of  Appeal — 
met  to  receive  and  consider  M.  Bard's  report. 
M.  Bard  said  that  in  falling  upon  an  officer  of 
the  army  the  sentence  upon  Dreyfus  excited 
legitimate  emotion,  but  also  party  passion.  Even 
before  the  verdict,  before  the  prisoner  could  ex- 
plain himself,  prejudices  against  him  were  sown 
broadcast  among  the  public,  and  even  later, 
when  the  appeal  for  revision  was  addressed  to 
the  minister  of  justice,  opinion  was  aroused  by 
many  and  various  means.  "The  echoes  from  out- 
side," said  M.  Bard,  "cannot  disturb  us  here,  for 
we  have  but  a  single  passion,  that  of  justice  and 
truth."  The  bordereau  was  the  essential  docu- 
ment of  the  case  against  Dreyfus,  and  Colonel 
Henry's  word — the  word  of  a  self-confessed 
forger — was  the  only  guarantee  as  to  its  origin. 
The  forgery  by  Henry,  considering  the  circum- 
stances in  which  it  was  committed  and  revealed, 
left  nothing  of  the  original  trial  of  1894  intact, 
especially  as  the  handwriting  experts  of  1897 
had  completely  contradicted  the  handwriting  ex- 


62     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

perts  of  1894.  "It  is  not  too  much  to  affirm/* 
said  M.  Bard,  "that  the  accusation  was  now  en- 
tirely nulHfied.  It  might  indeed  be  asked 
whether,  as  an  acquittal  was  incumbent,  the 
court  ought  not  to  certify,  as  it  did  last  January, 
in  quashing  a  judgment  of  an  Algiers  court- 
martial,  that  there  was  no  crime,  and  simply 
annul  the  judgment  without  ordering  a  fresh 
trial.  Whatever  might  be  the  opinion  of  the 
court  on  the  judgment  of  1894,  it  would  not  for- 
get that  the  military  authorities  were  opposed 
to  revision.  It  was  the  function  of  the  Court  of 
Appeal  to  bring  the  truth  to  light.  It  was  a 
delicate  task,  but  it  would  be  derogatory  to  the 
court  to  suspect  it  of  shirking.  Already  there 
had  been  too  many  derelictions  of  duty  in  this 
long  series  of  incidents.  Free  from  all  the  con- 
siderations or  suggestions  which  had  inspired 
others,  and  solely  anxious  for  justice,  the  court 
had  a  great  duty  before  it,  and  it  would  follow 
the  dictates  of  its  conscience."  After  M.  Bard 
the  court  was  addressed  by  M.  Manau,  pro- 
cureur-general,  and  by  M.  Mornard,  counsel  for 
Madame  Dreyfus,  and,  on  October  29,  the  court 
delivered  judgment  as  follows : 

"In  view  of  the  letter  of  the  minister  of  justice 
of  September  20,  1898: 

"In  view  of  the  arguments  submitted  by  the 


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Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     65 

public  prosecutor  attached  to  the  Court  of  Cas- 
sation, denouncing  to  the  court  the  condemna- 
tion pronounced  by  the  first  court-martial  of  the 
Military  Court  of  Paris  on  December  22,  1894, 
on  Alfred  Dreyfus,  then  captain  of  artillery,  at- 
tached to  the  general  staff  of  the  army ; 

"In  view  of  all  the  documents  of  the  case,  and 
also  of  articles  443  to  446  of  the  code  of  crim- 
inal procedure,  amended  by  the  law  of  June  10, 
1895,  on  the  admissibility,  in  proper  form,  of  an 
application  for  revision; 

"Whereas  the  court  has  had  the  matter 
brought  before  it  by  its  public  prosecutor,  in 
virtue  of  an  express  order  of  the  minister  of  jus- 
tice, acting  after  having  taken  the  opinion  of 
the  commission  established  by  article  444  of  the 
code  of  criminal  procedure ; 

"Whereas  the  application  comes  within  the 
category  of  cases  provided  for  by  the  last  para- 
graph pf  article  443,  and  has  been  introduced 
within  the  period  fixed  by  article  444 ; 

"Whereas,  finally,  the  judgment,  the  revision 
of  which  is  asked  for,  has  the  force  of  chose 
jugee. 

"As  regards  the  state  of  the  case : 

"Whereas,  the  documents  produced  do  not 
place  the  court  in  a  position  to  decide  on  all  the 


66     Dreyfus  and  tlie  Shame  of  France. 

merits  of  the  case,  and  there  is  ground  for  mak- 
ing a  supplementary  inquiry. 

"For  these  reasons,  the  court  declares  the  ap- 
plication in  proper  form  and  legally  admissible ; 
states  that  it  will  institute  a  supplementary  in- 
quiry; and  declares  that  there  is  no  ground  for 
deciding  at  the  present  moment  on  the  public 
prosecutor's  application  for  the  suspension  of  the 
penalty. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     67 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PREMIER  DUPUY'S  GREAT  MOVE. 

Revision  was  at  last  fairly  in  sight.  On 
October  29,  1898,  the  criminal  chamber  of  the 
Appeal  Court  decided  to  proceed  and  take  evi- 
dence. Then  came  the  outrageous  attacks  on 
the  court.  Beaurepaire,  president  of  the  civil 
chamber  of  the  court,  joined  in  the  attack  on  his 
colleagues.  Then  came  the  Loi  de  desaisisse- 
ment  of  the  Premier  Dupuy,  by  which  the  ad- 
judication of  the  Dreyfus  case  was  transferred  to 
the  united  chambers  of  the  court,  the  Criminal 
Chamber,  the  Civil  Chamber,  and  the  Chambre 
des  Requetes,  thus  declaring  the  highest  crim- 
inal court  in  the  country  incapable  of  dealing 
with  evidence.  The  conspiracy  against  revision 
raised  its  head  again  stronger  than  ever.  This 
was,  in  fact,  the  supreme  effort  of  the  con- 
spirators, and  the  military  party  rejoiced  exceed- 
ingly. 

REVIVED  HOPES. 
And  now,,  behold,  the  unexpected  happened  I 


68     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

Death  once  more  stepped  in  and  swept  out  of  the 
path  a  secret  adversary  of  the  cause  of  revision, 
a  man  who  was  always  under  the  thumb  of  its 
enemies — the  president  of  the  repubhc  himself, 
Felix  Faure.  This  event  led  to  the  abortive  at- 
tempt of  the  hysterical  Deroulede  to  induce  Gen- 
eral Roget  and  his  troops  who  attended  the  fu- 
neral of  the  president  to  march  on  the  Elysee. 
Still  the  deadly  Loi  de  desaisissement  stood  in 
the  way.  Rumors  were  rife  that  the  majority  of 
the  united  chambers  of  the  Court  of  Appeal 
would  pronounce  against  revision.  Hopes  sank 
again,  when  again  the  situation  was  saved  by 
an  event  of  the  first  importance — the  publication 
by  the  Figaro  of  the  entire  evidence  taken  by 
the  Court  of  Appeal,  evidence  which  had  been 
rigidly  kept  secret.  The  Loi  de  desaisissement 
was  counteracted,  and  thenceforth  it  was  cer- 
tain that  whatever  the  eventual  decision  might 
be  it  would  have  to  be  given  before  a  public 
which  now  knew  the  secret  history  of  the  Drey- 
fus case.  To  the  enterprise  and  courage  of  the 
Figaro  is  due  the  enormous  gain  to  the  cause 
of  justice  of  public  opinion.  Secret  things,  hid 
away  by  cowards,  were  dragged  to  light.  Light 
came  at  last,  and  the  bats  and  owls  shrunk  from 
it  squeaking  and  gibbering  in  dismay. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     69 

BALLOT-BEAUPRE'S  REPORT. 

The  judges  of  the  three  chambers  of  the  Court 
of  Appeal  met  at  the  Palais  de  Justice  to  hear 
the  report  of  M.  Ballot-Beaupre,  president  of  the 
civil  chamber  of  the  Court  of  Appeal  (the  suc- 
cessor of  Beaurepaire),  on  the  application  in 
favor  of  revision  of  the  Dreyfus  case.  The  report 
was  a  long  and  exhaustive  one,  and  it  dealt  with 
the  question  of  the  bordereau  as  the  one  question 
at  issue.  Is  the  bordereau  in  the  handwriting  of 
Dreyfus?  "Gentlemen,"  said  M.  Ballot-Beaupre, 
"after  a  profound  study  of  the  question  I,  for  my 
part,  have  come  to  the  conviction  that  the  bor- 
dereau was  written  not  by  Dreyfus  but  by  Ester- 
hazy."  And  the  new  fact  unknown  to  the  judges 
in  1894  which  in  M.  Ballot-Beaupre's  opinion 
was  sufficient  to  establish  the  necessity  for  a  new 
trial  was  the  existence  of  two  letters  written  in 
1892  and  1894  by  Esterhazy  upon  the  same  kind 
of  water-marked  and  filagree  tracing  paper  as 
that  upon  which  the  bordereau  was  written.  "I 
do  not  ask  you,"  concluded  M.  Ballot-Beaupre, 
"to  proclaim  Dreyfus'  innocence,  but  I  say  that 
a  fact  unknown  to  the  judges  of  1894  tends  to 
prove  it.  This  suffices  to  ordain  the  sending 
before  a  new  court-martial  to  bring  in  a  definite 
verdict  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  cast." 


70    Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

PROCUREUR    GENERAL    MANAU'S 
ADDRESS. 

The  procureur-general,  M.  Manau,  followed 
and  claimed  that  the  paper  on  which  the  bor- 
dereau was  written  had  spoken.  "It  has  named 
the  author  of  the  bordereau,"  he  said,  "and  this 
fact  alone  suffices  to  establish  the  innocence  of 
Dreyfus,  so  far  as  the  authorship  of  the  bor- 
dereau is  concerned.  What  remains  is  that,  who- 
ever may  be  guilty,  a  crime  of  treason  has  been 
committed,  but  Esterhazy,  having  been  acquitted 
of  having  written  the  bordereau,  cannot  be  pros- 
ecuted again,  were  he  a  hundred  times  guilty. 
As  to  the  innocence  of  Dreyfus,  I  do  not  ask  you 
to  proclaim  it — that  is  for  the  new  court-martial, 
to  which,  if  the  court  so  decides,  the  case  will 
be  referred.  Your  mission,  gentlemen,  is  an- 
other— to  say  whether  there  are  sufficient  ele- 
ments to  prove  that  the  judgment  of  the  court- 
martial  of  1894  is  tainted  with  suspicion.  It 
being  now  established  that  Dreyfus  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  bordereau,  we  will  dispense  our- 
selves from  entering  upon  a  technical  discussion 
of  the  facts.  That  will  be  for  the  new  court- 
martial.  It  will  be  for  them  to  reconcile  the 
opinions  of  the  former  ministers  of  war  on  that 
point,  and  to  discuss  with  their  special  science 
the  things  which  are  unknown  to  us." 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     71 

As  to  the  question  of  motive,  M.  Manau 
pointed  out  that  Dreyfus  had  married  Mile. 
Hadamard,  who  had  a  large  dowry.  Colonel 
Du  Paty  de  Clam  himself  had  admitted,  in  his 
report,  that  Dreyfus  led  a  regular  life,  and  did 
not  live  beyond  his  means.  Then  compare  the 
prospects  and  position  of  Dreyfus  and  those  of 
Esterhazy.  The  one  had  a  splendid  future  before 
him,  while  the  other  was  a  needy  adventurer, 
asking  for  money  in  all  directions. 

THE  SECRET  DOSSIER. 

After  an  analysis  of  the  secret  documents,  M. 
Manau  wound  up  by  the  emphatic  declaration 
that  there  was  nothing  in  the  secret  dossier  to 
incriminate  Dreyfus.  "We  do  not  yet  under- 
stand," he  said,  "why  there  was  so  much  delay 
in  submitting  them  to  investigation.  Those 
documents  were  secret  only  for  Dreyfus,  and 
they  cannot  be  brought  up  against  him.  He 
knows,  as  the  basis  of  his  indictment  and  con- 
viction, solely  the  bordereau  and  his  alleged  con- 
fession. The  examination  of  the  secret  papers 
results  in  showing  that  of  the  three  documents 
by  which  M.  Cavaignac  sought  to  justify  the 
condemnation,  two  are  forgeries  and  the  third 
does  not  apply  to  Dreyfus." 


72     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE  "LEGEND  OF  THE  CONFESSIONS." 

The  procureur  finally  came  to  what  he  called 
the  legend  of  Dreyfus'  confessions,  and  then  en- 
deavored to  prove  the  improbability  of  these 
confessions  on  the  part  of  a  man  who  had  never 
ceased  to  plead  and  assert  his  innocence,  and 
who  had  proclaimed  it  aloud  before  the  troops 
on  the  day  of  his  degradation.  It  was  only  in 
November,  1897,  that  the  story  of  the  confession 
was  brought  up  at  the  request  of  General  Billot. 
That  was  an  evident  proof  that  the  confessions 
were  not  made  by  Dreyfus.  M.  Manau  expressed 
a  severe  opinion  on  M.  Cavaignac,  who  had  de- 
pended for  the  proof  of  Dreyfus'  guilt  on  a  sheet 
from  a  notebook  destroyed  by  Captain  Lebrun- 
Renault.  "I  have  the  right,"  he  declared,  "to  say 
that  these  confessions  never  existed,  and  I 
should  like  to  know  whether  the  incomprehensi- 
ble evidence  of  M.  Bertillon  was  not  the  first 
cause  of  Dreyfus'  condemnation."  M.  Manau 
alluded  to  the  accounts  of  officials  who  had  been 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     73 

in  contact  with  Dreyfus,  and  who  all  affirmed 
their  belief  in  his  innocence,  and  quoted  letters 
written  from  the  He  du  Diable,  wherein  the  pris- 
oner protested  against  the  imputations  brought 
against  him.  He  had  been  told  in  1894  that  su- 
perior interests  were  opposed  to  any  search  for 
the  real  culprits.  In  his  letters  he  asked  that, 
notwithstanding  these  interests,  honor  might  be 
restored  to  the  name  he  bore,  and  that  he  should 
be  restored  to  his  family.  What  was  there  more 
human?  The  chief  officer  of  the  He  du  Diable 
declared  that  Dreyfus  was  an  abominable  being, 
loving  neither  his  wife  nor  his  children.  If  so, 
how  could  he  write  such  letters?" 

M.  Manau,  in  conclusion,  said:  "I  decline  to 
believe  that  the  court  can  refuse  Dreyfus  the  su- 
preme relief  which  is  being  solicited  for  him. 
The  country,  the  world,  and  history  are  awaiting 
the  decision ;  they  will  pass  a  judgment  without 
appeal.  Before  them  and  before  the  court  we 
assume  the  responsibility  of  our  conclusions  as 
magistrates  and  as  citizens  with  the  conscious- 
ness of  having  done  our  duty.  These  con- 
clusions are :  We  affirm  the  existence  of  several 
new  facts  which  are  of  a  nature  to  establish  the 
innocence  of  Dreyfus.  Consequently,  let  it  please 
the  court  to  pronounce  the  abrogation  of  the 
judgment  Of  December  22,  1894,  and  to  send 


74     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

Dreyfus,  in  the  quality  of  an  accused  person,  to 
such  court-martial  as  it  may  be  pleased  to  desig- 
nate." 

THE  "CONFESSION"  OF  DREYFUS. 

Among  the  most  important  of  the  ''proofs" 
of  Dreyfus'  guilt  in  the  eyes  of  his  enemies  was 
the  "confession"  which  he  is  alleged  to  have 
made  to  Captain  Lebrun-Renault,  and  to  which 
Procureur-General  Manau  referred  as  non-exist- 
ent in  the  speech  above  quoted.  On  the  day  of 
Dreyfus'  degradation,  Captain  Lebrun-Renault 
was  in  command  of  the  escort  of  gendarmes 
which  conducted  Dreyfus  from  the  Cherche  Midi 
prison  to  the  Ecole  Militaire.  Whilst  waiting 
in  the  guard-room  Dreyfus,  according  to 
Lebrun-Renault,  said  to  him,  "I  am  innocent.  In 
three  years  my  innocence  will  be  recognized. 
The  minister  knows  it,  and  Commandant  Du 
Paty  de  Clam  came  to  see  me  some  days  ago  in 
my  cell,  and  said  that  the  minister  knew  it.  The 
minister  knew  that  if  I  gave  documents  to  Ger- 
many they  were  unimportant  ones,  and  that  it 
was  for  the  purpose  of  getting  for  them  more  im- 
portant ones."  Lebrun-Renault  stated  that  he 
entered  the  remark  in  his  pocket  book,  which 
pocket  book  he  destroyed  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
according  to  his  custom,  but  he  kept  the  page 


GENERAL    ROGET:     "THIS  IS  INCORRECT 

Scene  between  Colonel  Picquart  and  General  Roget  at  the  Dre3rfu8 
trial,  August  18. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     77 

containing  the  eiitry.  In  1898  Cavaignac,  min- 
ister for  war,  sent  for  Lebrun-Renault,  who  pro- 
duced the  torn-out  page.  Cavaignac  copied  it, 
and  it  was  then  destroyed  by  Lebrun-Renault, 
who  thought,  as  he  says,  that  there  was  no  more 
use  for  it.  Cavaignac,  in  his  "great  speech  set- 
tUng  the  Dreyfus  affair,"  in  July,  1898,  read  out 
the  copy,  as  being  one  of  the  absolute  proofs. 
This  confession  has  been  to  a  certain  extent  a 
stumbling-block  to  the  outside  public,  who  were 
friendly  to  revision.  It  was  a  mystery  of  which 
there  was  no  definite  explanation. 

A  VOICE  FROM  THE  GRAVE. 

And  now  comes  a  voice  from  the  grave  bear- 
ing upon  this  very  question,  the  voice  of  Sand- 
herr,  the  head  of  the  intelligence  department 
at  the  time  of  Dreyfus'  arrest,  and  was  up  to 
the  time  of  his  death  in  the  plot  against  him.  It 
seems  that  M.  de  Civry,  the  director  of  the 
Echo  de  I'Armee  newspaper,  having  heard  of 
the  alleged  "confession"  wrote  an  article  on 
the  subject — a  violent  anti-Dreyfus  article,  of 
course — and  sent  a  proof  of  it  to  Sandherr  him- 
self for  revision  before  publication.  Here  is 
Sandherr's  reply,  a  most  important  document: 
"Saturday,  January  5,  1895. — My  dear  De 
Civry, — No!  do  not  publish  the  article  which 


78     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

Georgin  has  just  shown  to  me.  It  would  open 
the  door  to  useless  discussions,  for  I  tell  you 
sincerely  that  it  is  not  exact.  Dreyfus  did  not 
confess  to  the  captain  of  the  Republican  Guard 
as  he  told  you  he  did.  This  error  might  give 
rise  to  various  protests.  It  would  be  well,  there- 
fore, to  pass  it  over  in  silence.  The  less  you 
speak  of  this  sad  affair  in  the  Echo,  the  better 
will  it  be  for  us." 

A  TANGLE  OF  SIDE  ISSUES. 

Of  the  extraordinary  ramifications,  side  is- 
sues, and  underplot  of  the  Affaire  it  has  not 
been  possible  to  speak  in  a  necessarily  concise 
history  of  the  case.  A  complete  narrative 
would  fill  volumes.  It  has  been,  in  many  of  its 
phases,  especially  those  in  which  Esterhazy 
figures,  what  the  French  call  a  "Roman  de 
cape  et  d'epee;"  there  have  been  veiled  ladies; 
officers  disguised  in  false  beards  and  blue  spec- 
tacles ;  forged  telegrams ;  rendezvous  at  dusk 
in  the  park  of  Montsouris  and  at  the  cemetery 
of  Montmartre ;  rumors  of  letters  from  crowned 
heads;  hundreds  of  closely  printed  columns  in 
the  newspapers  ranged  on  either  side,  full  of 
sound  and  fury,  and  signifying  nothing; 
"leagues"  formed  by  both  parties ;  the  "Droits 
de  I'Homme"  league  of  Reinach,  Zola,  Trarieux, 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     79 

Jaures,  and  Yves  Guyot;  the  league  of  the 
"Patrie  Francaise,"  founded  by  Coppee, 
Brunetiere,  Lemaitre  and  Barres;  the  league  of 
'Tatriotes,"  formed  by  the  hysterical  Deroulede, 
who,  at  the  funeral  of  President  Faure,  thought 
to  turn  the  nose  of  General  Roget's  horse  in 
the  direction  of  the  Elysee  and  bring  about 
the  triumph  of  the  army;  and,  lastly,  the  silly 
vagaries  of  M.  Quesnay  de  Beaurepaire,  who 
resigned  his  position  as  president  of  the  Cham- 
bre  des  Requetes  section  of  the  Court  of  Cas- 
sation, because  his  colleagues  of  the  Criminal 
Chamber  were  too  partial,  and  who  has  himself 
been  the  victim  of  practical  jokes  and  the  cham- 
pion discoverer  of  mare's  nests  ever  since.  To 
these  matters,  some  tragic  and  some  comic, 
some  interesting,  some  beneath  contempt — all 
of  them  the  outcome  of  decadent  national  char- 
acter— it  is  only  possible  to  allude  passingly 
in  a  brief  history  of  the  case.  They  will  be  re- 
garded by  posterity  with  amazement  and  per- 
plexity, 


8o    Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

FRANCE  ONCE  MORE. 

Revision  was  decided  upon,  the  war  minister, 
De  Freycinet,  having,  in  view  of  such  an  even- 
tuahty,  sidled  out  of  his  office — another  of  the 
many  instances  of  moral  cowardice  during  the 
case.  Krantz,  a  stronger  man,  with  broader 
shoulders,  took  his  place.  The  return  of  Drey- 
fus to  France  was  ordered.  The  final  phase  of 
the  Affaire  Dreyfus  began.  All  eyes  were  turned 
to  the  island  prison  off  Guiana  to  which  the 
cruiser  Sfax  had  been  ordered  to  bring  the 
prisoner  back.  What  he  suffered  there  during 
the  four  years  of  exile — the  brutalities  of  his 
keepers,  and  the  colonial  authorities  in  Paris, 
the  incredible  cruelties  inflicted  on  him,  dia- 
bolical cruelties  such  as  the  world  has  not  heard 
of  for  a  hundred  years — of  this  terrible  page  of 
the  history  mention  can  only  be  made  here. 
They  have  been  revealed  in  all  their  hideousness 
so  recently  as  to  be  in  the  recollection  of  all, 
and  they  have  aroused  the  deep  horror,  and  at 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     8i 

the  same  time  the  admiration  of  the  world,  hor- 
ror for  the  torments,  admiration  for  the  heroic 
soul  of  the  man  upon  whom  they  were  inflicted. 
No  greater  hero  ever  stepped  upon  the  deck  of 
a  man-of-war  than  the  convict  of  Devil's  Island. 

THE  HOME-COMING  OF  DREYFUS. 

"There  is  extraordinary  energy  in  this  man. 
During  twenty  days  he  gave  no  sign  of  weak- 
ness." Such  was  the  succinct  resume  given  by 
the  captain  of  the  French  cruiser  Sfax  of  the 
conduct  of  the  "officer-prisoner"  whom  he  took 
on  board  at  Cayenne  on  June  8,  and  landed  at 
Haliguen,  on  the  Quiberon  peninsula,  in  the 
dead  of  the  night  of  July  i.  Probably  the  cap- 
tain had  no  idea  of  the  tortures  inflicted  upon 
ofhcer-prisoner  Dreyfus  in  the  He  du  Diable 
during  four  years  of  unjust  punishment — tor- 
tures so  hideous  and  so  cruel  that  the  recital 
of  them  is  like  a  chapter  out  of  the  annals  of 
some  savage  tyranny  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Had 
he  heard,  could  he  have  been  brought  to  be- 
lieve those  shocking  outrages  on  humanity,  he 
would  not  have  wondered  at  his  prisoner's 
demeanor  on  board  his  ship.  The  Sfax,  even 
with  a  closed  cabin  window  and  a  sentry  at  the 
cabin  door,  must  have  been  a  paradise  to  that 
Devil's  Island,  with  its  brutal  governor  and  its 


82     Dreyfus  and  the  SHame  of  I^rance. 

palisaded  hut,  and  when  the  long-suflfering  vic- 
tim went  on  deck  the  dash  of  the  sea  waves  was 
no  longer  on  the  iron  shore  of  an  island  prison, 
but  against  the  side  of  a  vessel  which  was  bear- 
ing him  back  to  civilization  and  comparative 
freedom. 

Stringent  regulations  were  in  force  during 
the  voyage  of  the  prisoner  of  state,  or,  to  use  a 
less  grandiloquent  and  equally  true  phrase,  the 
victim  of  conspiracy.  He  was  boycotted  by  the 
whole  ship's  company,  and  had  to  write,  and 
receive  in  writing,  all  communications  that 
passed  between  him  and  Captain  Coffinieres  de 
Nordeck.  His  new  position  was  that  of  an  offi- 
cer under  arrest  on  a  serious  charge  for  which 
he  was  to  be  tried ;  the  regulations  of  the  serv- 
ice adapted  to  such  circumstances  were  no 
doubt  inevitable,  but  the  narrative  of  the  voyage 
of  the  Sfax  adds  another  painful  chapter  to  the 
brutal  records  of  the  scandal  of  the  century.  It 
is  said  of  the  prisoner  that  while  on  board  he 
seemed  happy,  and  sometimes  smiled  as  he 
walked  the  deck  and  noticed  the  animated 
scenes  of  the  daily  routine  of  the  warship. 
There  were  those  on  board  besides  the  captain 
who  took  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  prisoner ; 
some  of  them  kept  diaries  which  furnish  inter- 
esting details. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  Frauce.     83 

LEAVING  THE  ISLAND. 
From  them  we  learn  that  early  on  the  morn- 
ing of  June  8  the  Sfax  was  at  the  Isles  du  Salut 
(of  which  the  prison-island  of  Dreyfus,  the  He 
du  Diable,  is  one),  there  to  coal  and  water.  A 
boat  and  a  steam  launch  approached  her  from 
the  Goeland,  the  warship  on  the  station.  The 
captain  of  the  Goeland  came  on  board,  and 
handed  the  captain  of  the  Sfax  a  sealed  packet. 
"In  the  steam  launch,"  says  one  of  the  crew  of 
the  Sfax  in  his  diary,  "we  perceive  a  civilian 
attired  in  a  suit  of  dark  blue  cloth,  and  wear- 
ing a  cork  helmet.  He  hides  his  head  in  his 
hands.  Sometimes  he  rises  and  takes  a  couple 
of  steps,  and  then  he  sinks  down  on  a  bench ; 
he  seems  exhausted.  We  wonder  who  this  per- 
sonage can  be.  All  sorts  of  rumors  are  cur- 
rent among  the  crew,  and  after  an  hour's  in- 
terval the  officers  leave  the  captain's  cabin.  Or- 
ders are  given  to  the  boat  to  go  alongside  the 
launch  to  fetch  the  individual  on  board  the 
Sfax.  The  boat  does  this,  and  ten  minutes 
after  we  see  ex-Captain  Dreyfus  ascending  the 
ladder  with  difficulty,  and  with  uncertain  step, 
followed  by  the  gendarmes,  who  have  revolvers 
in  their  belts.  He  staggers  as  he  reaches  the 
deck,  but  he  soon  recovers  his  strength.  With 
a  still  trembling  hand  he  salutes  in  the  mili- 


84     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

tary  style,  drawing  himself  up  with  a  quick 
movement,  as  he  is  very  bent.  He  has  gray 
hair  and  a  dark  red  beard.  His  general  appear- 
ance is  fairly  good,  in  spite  of  the  sea  sickness 
from  which  he  is  suffering." 

ON  THE  SFAX. 

Arrived  on  board,  Dreyfus  is  taken  to  his 
cabin  by  the  second  officer  of  the  Sfax ;  it  is  fur- 
nished with  wardrobe,  table,  washstand  and  bed, 
and  its  porthole  is  strongly  barred.  On  June 
10  the  Sfax  weighed  anchor,  without  having 
coaled  or  watered,  it  seems,  and  sailed  straight 
for  St.  Vincent.  "A  guard  was  posted  to  watch 
him  night  and  day  without  leaving  him,  and 
very  strict  orders  were  issued  about  this.  He 
is  to  take  a  turn  on  deck  three  times  a  day,  in 
the  morning  from  nine  till  ten,  and  from  eleven 
till  noon,  and  in  the  afternoon  from  four  till  five. 
Every  officer  and  sailor  is  expressly  forbidden 
to  hold  any  communication  with  him.  He  is 
served  from  the  officers'  table,  but  he  has  his 
meals  in  his  room.  He  spends  his  days  in  read- 
ing and  writing,  and  he  often  smokes.  Some- 
times he  looks  out  of  the  porthole,  remaining 
deep  in  thought  for  a  long  while.  His  lug- 
gage consists  of  two  portmanteaus  containing 
linen,  books  and  several  packets  of  chocolate, 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     85 

small  biscuits,  and  several  bottles  of  toilet  vine- 
gar." Others  who  noted  the  prisoner's  daily 
life  state  that  Dreyfus  in  the  daytime  used  to 
lean  against  the  cabin  door  smoking  and  look- 
ing through  the  glass  at  the  operations  of  the 
crew.  He  was  not  allowed  newspapers,  but  he 
read  books,  sometimes  drew,  and  was  often  in 
a  reverie.  He  generally  went  to  bed  at  seven, 
but  rose  about  midnight  to  smoke  a  cigarette, 
and  he  regularly  got  up  at  five  in  the  morning. 

AT  ST.  VINCENT. 
At  2 130  on  the  afternoon  of  June  18  the  Sfax 
arrived  at  St.  Vincent — a  long  voyage  from 
Guiana,  but  it  appeared  that  the  orders  were 
that  she  was  to  arrive  at  St.  Vincent  at  a  fixed 
date.  No  letters  or  telegrams  were  allowed 
to  be  sent  from  the  port,  as  "the  voyage  of 
Dreyfus  was  not  to  be  revealed."  Sailing  from 
St.  Vincent  the  Sfax  arrived  on  July  i — a  date 
no  doubt  also  carefully  set  down  in  her  orders 
— in  a  gale  of  wind  and  rain,  not  at  Brest,  or 
L'Orient,  or  any  of  the  ports  which  had  been 
watched  for  days  by  eager  journalists,  but  at 
Haliguen  on  the  Quiberon  peninsula.  There 
Dreyfus  was  landed.  One  paper  only,  the 
Matin,  of  Paris,  knew  of  the  spot,  and  one  pa- 
per only,  the  Temps,  was  able  to  give  an  account 
of  the  landing. 


86     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   LANDING. 

It  was  to  this  latter  journal  that  a  telegram 
came  from  M.  Henry  Ceard,  who,  it  seems, 
takes  his  summer's  rest  from  literary  labors  on 
the  peninsula  of  Quiberon,  at  the  village  of  Port 
Haliguen.  It  appears  that  fishermen,  who  had 
been  out  in  the  ofhng,  announced  that  they 
had  seen  the  Sfax.  Immediately  the  entire  pop- 
ulation, consisting  of  about  150  people,  went 
off  to  the  pier,  where  a  closed  carriage,  drawn 
by  two  white  horses,  was  drawn  up,  in  which 
was  M.  Viguie,  director  of  the  criminal  depart- 
ment. At  the  same  time  a  company  of  the  11 6th 
regiment  of  the  line  arrived.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, until  a  quarter  to  two  that  a  launch  was 
heard  approaching.  "The  men  bring  the  boat 
to  land,"  writes  M.  Ceard,  "Dreyfus  is  in  the 
middle  of  them.  By  the  light  of  a  lantern  I 
see  him  attired  in  a  mackintosh,  with  a  soft 
travehng  hat  of  the  'bolero'  pattern  on  his  head. 
He  gets  out  of  the  boat,  and  between  two  gen- 
darmes, with  slow  and  weary  tread,  he  ascends 


MAITRE    LABORI,    LEADING    COUNSEL  FOR  CAPTAIN 

DREYFUS 

A  sketch  from  life  by  Paul  Renquard.  drawn  at  a  sitting  g^ven  on 
the  evening  before  the  attempt  on  Me.  Labori's  life. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     89 

the  steps,  and  so  goes  on  to  the  carriage 
brought  by  M.  Viguie.  He  enters  it,  the  troops 
surround  the  vehicle,  which  proceeds  at  a  rapid 
pace  to  the  Quiberon  station,  a  kilometer  from 
Port  Haliguen." 

ARRIVAL  AT  RENNES. 

At  Quiberon  station  a  special  train  was  wait- 
ing consisting  of  four  carriages,  and  it  started 
almost  immediately  after  the  prisoner  and  es- 
cort had  entered  it.  Due  at  Rennes  at  5:15  it 
arrived  there  about  6  :oo,  but  had  been  stopped 
at  La  Rablais,  a  level  crossing  a  mile  or  two 
outside;  there  carriages  were  waiting  in  which 
the  party  were  driven  to  Rennes.  The  carriage 
in  which  Dreyfus  was  seated  was  surrounded 
by  gendarmes,  and  as  it  approached  the  prison 
the  gates  opened  and  two  hundred  gendarmes, 
who  had  been  kept  inside,  suddenly  rushed  out 
and  barred  the  street  on  either  side  of  the  en- 
trance. Those  who  were  present — and  many 
journalists  had  been  up  night  after  night  await- 
ing the  arrival — got  a  glimpse  of  Dreyfus  as  he 
hurried  past.  They  noticed  that  he  was  wear- 
ing a  blue  suit  with  a  gray  overcoat.  He  looked 
startled  and  tired;  his  face  was  tanned,  his  hair 
gray,  and  his  reddish  beard  trimmed  to  a  point. 
His  eyes  seemed  expressionless ;  they  looked  at 


90     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

the  ground,  then  at  the  warders,  then  at  the 
prison,  but  seem  to  see  nothing,  and  to  be  look- 
ing at  something  far  away.  To  see  him  walk 
thus,  said  an  eye-witness  of  the  arrival,  with 
his  indifferent  step,  with  vague  eyes  and  fixed 
thoughts,  he  seems  to  follow  something  which 
he  does  not  resist  and  which  he  obeys.  He 
seems  to  follow  his  destiny.  A  man  behind 
him,  a  sergeant-major,  taps  his  shoulder  and 
points  to  door  "C."  Dreyfus  enters  it  and  dis- 
appears— disappears  once  more  from  the  sight 
of  the  world  after  this  brief  glimpse  of  him  as 
he  passed  on  to  his  destiny — but  to  reappear 
again,  as  all  honest  men  sincerely  hope,  with 
the  untarnished,  unmutilated  uniform  of  his 
rank  and  with  an  undimmed  sword  by  his  side. 
Some  days  previously  Madame  Dreyfus  had 
arrived  at  Rennes,  Madame  Godard,  a  well- 
known  resident,  having  placed  her  house  at  her 
disposal.  On  the  arrival  of  her  husband, 
Madame  Dreyfus  was  at  once  informed,  and  ac- 
corded permission  to  visit  him.  The  meeting 
between  husband  and  wife  was  deeply  touch- 
ing. The  prisoner  has  also  been  allowed  to 
see  his  counsel.  Dreyfus  was  utterly  ignorant 
of  all  that  had  taken  place  during  the  past  two 
years,  and  the  whole  agitation  and  the  various 
incidents  connected  with  the  reopening  of  his 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     91 

case  came  upon  him  as  a  revelation.     He  was 
like  a  man  raised  from  the  dead. 

MYSTERY— ALWAYS  MYSTERY. 
The  dire  calamities  which,  according  to  the 
anti-Dreyfus  prophets,  were  to  burst  upon 
France  at  the  moment  of  his  arrival  in  the  coun- 
try from  the  He  du  Diable — riot  and  social  con- 
vulsion and  civil  war — were  not  realized. 
Even  the  firebrand  Deroulede  was  found 
on  the  side  of  comomn  sense  in  de- 
manding that  if  Dreyfus  is  proved  innocent 
in  demanding  that  if  Dreyfus  is  proved  innocent 
the  ministers  of  war  should  be  found  guilty. 
But  nothing  explosive  marked  the  sad  home- 
coming of  the  sorely  tried  captain  of  artillery. 
Of  course  it  could  not  be  done  in  a  perfectly 
simple,  straightforward  way.  It  was  not  pos- 
sible, seemingly,  for  a  mighty  nation  to  land  a 
state  prisoner  by  daylight  and  safeguard  him 
to  his  place  of  detention  with  the  calm  assur- 
ance of  the  strength  to  do  what  the  law  de- 
manded. No ;  Dreyfus  must  be  smuggled  in  in 
the  dead  of  night ;  the  journalists  must  be  hood- 
winked; the  public  must  be  kept  in  complete 
ignorance;  only  "five  men"  must  know  the 
place  of  landing;  the  very  admiral  in  charge 
of  the  port  to  which  the  Sfax  was  supposed 
to  be  bound  must  not  be  enlightened. 


93     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 


CHAPTER   X. 

RECAPITULATION  OF  CASE  AGAINST 
DREYFUS     AND     CONDENSED 
STATEMENT  OF  FACTS  RE- 
LATING  THERETO. 

In  French  criminal  procedure,  whether  the 
case  be  one  for  the  civil  courts  or  a  court- 
martial,  the  form  of  accusing  a  prisoner  is  to 
propound  a  question  (containing  the  charges 
against  him)  to  the  judges  or  jury  in  the  case. 
In  this  second  trial  of  Dreyfus,  the  charge 
against  him  being  that  of  treason,  the  question 
put  to  his  military  judges  was : 

"Is  Dreyfus  guilty  of  having,  in  1894,  prac- 
ticed machinations  or  of  having  had  communi- 
cations with  a  foreign  power  or  its  agents  with 
a  view  of  inciting  acts  of  hostility  in  the  case 
of  war  with  France,  or  of  having  furnished  the 
means  therefor  by  furnishing  notes  or  docu- 
ments retraced  on  the  bordereau?" 

Their  answer  to  the  question  is  "Guilty." 
The  form  of  punishment  prescribed  under  the 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     93 

regulations  of  the  army  provides  that,  having 
been  found  guilty,  the  accused  may  be  executed 
or  simply  be  degraded  by  having  his  sword 
broken  and  epaulets  torn  off  and  then  be  de- 
ported to  some  convict  station  or  suffer  im- 
prisonment at  home.  Dreyfus  has  already  been 
degraded.  He  will  not  be  executed.  So  that 
his  punishment  is  reduced  to  either  deportation 
again  or  confinement  in  prison  in  France.  The 
history  of  his  case  in  brief  follows: 

On  October  15,  1894,  Alfred  Dreyfus,  a  cap- 
tain in  the  French  army,  attached  to  the  gen- 
eral staff,  was  accused  of  having  sold  secret 
knowledge  of  the  operations  of  the  army  to  the 
German  government.  The  information  which 
he  was  charged  with  having  given  to  Colonel 
Schwartzkoppen,  military  attache  of  the  Ger- 
man embassy  at  Paris,  consisted  of: 

1.  Details  of  the  methods  of  operating  a 
hydraulic  brake  on  a  certain  new  French  can- 
non referred  to  as  No.  120,  or  cannon  120. 

2.  Certain  details  as  to  the  location  of  out- 
post troops  on  the  French  border. 

3.  Data  as  to  modifications  made  in  the  man- 
ner of  artillery  formation. 

4.  Details  as  to  certain  French  plans  in  re- 
gard to  Madagascar. 

5.  Details  of  the  scheme  in  the  manual  of 


94     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  F'rance. 

field  firing  determined  upon  by  the  French 
government  on  March   14,   1894. 

A  French  spy  discovered  the  paper  upon 
which  this  information  was  written  in  the  waste 
basket  of  Colonel  Schwartzkoppen  and  con- 
veyed it  to  Colonel  Sandherr,  then  chief  of  the 
secret  service  of  the  French  army.  The  Marquis 
de  Mores  and  Colonel  Du  Paty  de  Clam,  mem- 
bers of  the  general  staff  and  friends  of  Major 
Esterhazy,  also  of  the  staff,  on  having  the  manu- 
script, or  bordereau,  shown  to  them  by  Colonel 
Sandherr,  suggested  that  the  handwriting  re- 
sembled that  of  Dreyfus.  Later  their  opinion 
was  sustained  by  Esterhazy,  who,  being  at  that 
time'  in  the  pay  of  the  German  government  or 
its  representatives  in  Paris,  found  it  necessary 
to  divert  suspicion  from  himself.  Captain  Drey- 
fus was  a  Jew,  ambitious,  wealthy,  disliked  by 
the  Esterhazy  combination.  A  powerful  anti- 
Semitic  sentiment  existed  in  France,  and  any 
accusation  against  a  Jew  was  likely  to  meet 
with  public  favor. 

The  first  court-martial  of  Dreyfus  com- 
menced on  December  19,  1894.  On  January  5, 
1895,  by  sentence  of  the  court-martial  he  was 
publicly  degraded  before  the  army.  His  epau- 
lets and  insignia  of  rank  were  torn  from  him 
and  his  sword  was  broken.     On  February  9, 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     95 

1895,  he  was  banished  from  France  and  or- 
dered confined  on  Devil's  Island  for  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life.  In  June  of  this  year  the 
Court  of  Cassation  granted  him  a  new  trial  and 
ordered  his  return  to  France  for  that  purpose. 
The  second  court-martial  followed  at  Rennes. 

During  the  progress  of  the  case  there  have 
been  developed  the  following  terms  and  phrases 
with  which  the  average  American  reader  is  not 
familiar : 

BORDEREAU — A  memorandum — a  list  of 
things  to  be  remembered — a  written  statement 
— the  document  found  in  Colonel  Schwartz- 
koppen's  basket. 

DOSSIER — A  packet  of  legal  documents. 
The  so-called  secret  dossier  consists  of  the  bor- 
dereau, the  forged  letters  of  Colonel  Henry,  a 
number  of  other  letters  said  to  have  been  writ- 
ten by  Dreyfus,  and  small  memoranda  supposed 
to  have  been  falsely  prepared  against  the  cap- 
tain by  his  enemies. 

PETIT  BLEU— A  small  blue  letter  card, 
sent  through  pneumatic  tubes  in  Paris.  The 
particular  petit  bleu  in  this  case  is  one  written 
to  Esterhazy  which  led  Picquart  to  identify  him 
as  the  author  of  the  bordereau,  and  for  which 
he  was  arrested,  the  charge  being  that  of 
forgery. 


96     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

''CANAILLE  DE  D "—This  is  a  phrase 

occurring  in  one  of  the  documents  of  the  dos- 
sier, and  by  Paty  de  Clam  and  Esterhazy  was 
said  to  stand  for  "Canaille  de  Dreyfus."  The 
present  trial  has  brought  out  the  information 
that  it  should  read  "Canaille  de  Debois."  The 
wife  of  Debois  was  flirting  with  the  German 
and  Italian  military  attaches  at  the  time  Drey- 
fus was  arrested.  The  expression  "canaille" 
literally  means  "low  fellow." 

In  the  developments  of  the  Dreyfus  case  it 
has  transpired  that  prior  to  1894  the  German 
government,  through  a  liberal  use  of  money, 
had  gained  access  to  many  of  the  secrets  of  the 
French  war  department,  and  that  Major  Ester- 
hazy  was  the  principal  traitor.  It  has  further 
developed  that  the  French  government  was 
aware  of  this  system  of  espionage  and  had  es- 
tablished one  of  its  own  in  the  German  war  de- 
partment and  the  German  embassy  at  Paris ; 
that  the  letter  in  which  the  phrase  "Canaille  de 
D "  appears  was  taken  from  the  German  au- 
thorities by  a  French  spy  ten  months  before 
Dreyfus  was  accused  and  had  no  connection 
with  his  case;  that  the  general  staff  of  the 
French  army,  of  which  Generals  Billot  and  Mer- 
cier  were  the  chief  representatives,  were  aware 
that  Esterhazy  had  betrayed  the  government, 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.     97 

but  did  not  dare  to  expose  him  owing  to  his 
knowledge  of  acts  of  wrong-doing  on  their 
part;  that  therefore  when  it  became  necessary 
to  find  a  victim  Dreyfus  was  eagerly  pounced 
upon,  since  he  was  a  Jew  and  unpopular  with 
his  associates;  that  Esterhazy  wrote  the  bor- 
dereau which  was  said  to  have  been  found  in 
Colonel  Schwartzkoppen's  waste  basket,  and 
had  it  transmitted  back  to  Colonel  Sandherr 
for  the  purpose  of  laying  the  foundation  of  a 
case  against  Dreyfus;  that  Colonel  Henry, 
through  "pressure,"  was  induced  to  forge  cer- 
tain papers  to  be  used  against  Dreyfus,  and 
that  from  1894  to  the  present  time  the  sole  ob- 
ject of  the  combination  against  Dreyfus  has 
been  to  save  the  reputation  of  the  general  staff 
of  the  French  army.  This  would  only  be  pos- 
sible in  a  country  where  the  army  is  revered  as 
it  is  in  France. 

Following  the  revelation  that  Esterhazy 
wrote  the  bordereau,  and  his  arrest,  the  declara- 
tion was  made  by  Major  Panizzardi  of  the 
Italian  embassy  that  Esterhazy  and  not  Drey- 
fus was  in  the  pay  of  Colonel  Schwartzkoppen, 
that  it  was  Esterhazy  who  revealed  the  secrets 
of  the  French  army,  and  that  Dreyfus  was  not 
guilty. 

Some  of  the  results  of  the  accusations  against 


98     Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

Dreyfus  and  the  machinations  of  the  general 
staff  have  been  that  Casimir-Perier  resigned  the 
presidency  of  France;  the  Marquis  de  Mores 
was  murdered;  Esterhazy  driven  into  exile; 
suicide  of  Colonel  Henry ;  resignation  of 
Cavaignac  from  the  war  ministry ;  exile  of  Zola ; 
imprisonment  of  Picquart,  and  many  riots  in 
Paris. 

Dreyfus'  second  trial  was  upon  this  legal 
question : 

"Is  Dreyfus  guilty  of  having,  in  1894,  prac- 
ticed machinations  or  of  having  had  com- 
munications with  a  foreign  power  or  its  agents 
with  a  view  of  inciting  acts  of  hostility  in  the 
case  of  war  with  France,  or  of  having  furnished 
the  means  therefor  by  furnishing  notes  or  docu- 
ments retraced  on  the  bordereau?" 

LEADERS   IN   ARMY   PLOT  TO    RUIN 
DREYFUS. 

The  enemies  of  Dreyfus  most  conspicuous  in 
the  effort  to  ruin  him  were: 

COUNT  WALSIN  ESTERHAZY,  a  Hun- 
garian by  birth,  and  the  real  author  of  the  bor- 
dereau. 

COLONEL  DU  PATY  DE  CLAM,  friend 
of  Esterhazy,  and  first  to  charge  Dreyfus  with 
treason. 


THE  ATTEMPTED  ASSASSINATION  OF  MAITRE 

LABOR! 

Madame  I,abori  attending  to  her  husband  immediately  after  he 
had  been  shot  while  on  his  way  to  the  court-martial  at  Rennes.  A 
sketch  by  Georges  R^don. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   loi 

EDOUARD  DRUMONT,  editor  of  La 
Libre  Parole,  and  the  most  rabid  Jew-baiter  in 
Paris. 

GENERAL  MERCIER,  minister  of  war  at 
the  time  of  the  arrest  of  Dreyfus. 

GENERAL  BILLOT,  who  succeeded  Mer- 
cier  as  minister  of  war  and  who  refused  to  re- 
open the  case. 

GENERAL  GONSE,  under  chief  of  the  gen- 
eral staff. 

GENERAL  DE  BOISDEFFRE,  chief  of 
the  general  staff,  who  resigned  when  Colonel 
Henry  confessed. 

COLONEL  HENRY,  who  forged  docu- 
ments to  prove  Dreyfus  guilty  and  then  killed 
himself. 

COLONEL  SANDHERR,  head  of  the  in- 
telligence department  when  Dreyfus  was  first 
accused. 

M.  BERTILLON,  commissary  of  police  in 
Paris,  who  swore  Dreyfus  wrote  the  bor- 
dereau. 

HENRI  ROCHEFORT,  editor  of  L'ln- 
transigeant,  a  violent  anti-Semitic  paper  of 
Paris. 

GENERAL  ZURLINDEN,  military  gov- 
ernor of  Paris,  who  ordered  the  arrest  of 
Colonel  Picquart. 


102  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

MARQUIS  DE  MORES,  who  accused 
Dreyfus  early  in  the  case  and  was  afterward 
murdered  in  Africa. 

HIS   CHILDREN. 

There  are  only  two — Pierre,  nearly  eight 
years  old,  and  Jeanne,  nearly  five  at  the  time  of 
the  Rennes  trial. 

Pierre  resembles  his  uncle,  Mathieu  Dreyfus, 
and  shows  that  he  has  a  similar  force  of  char- 
acter and  strength  of  will.  Jeanne  is  the  image 
of  her  father.  She  has  all  his  nervous  energy, 
mingled  with  a  little  girl's  gayety,  coquetry  and 
general  prettiness. 

They  grew  up  without  seeing  the  black  cloud 
lowering  over  their  heads. 

PICTURE  OF  PATHOS. 

This  is  the  pathetic  picture  which  the  Figaro 
shows.  Motherly  tenderness  has  made  their 
home  so  sweet  a  prison  that  they  do  not  think 
of  going  to  school  where  other  children  work, 
and  when  they  play  happily  together  their 
mother  replaces  playmates  for  them. 

It  is  with  her  that  they  go  out  for  walks  every 
day;  it  is  she  who  tells  them  amusing  stories 
to  make  them  laugh  while  her  own  heart  is  heavy 
with  grief,  and  it  is  she  who  teaches  Jeanne  the 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   103 

alphabet  in  a  big  colored  picture  book,  who 
helps  Pierre  with  his  lessons  and  who  corrects 
the  exercises  written  in  his  sadly  blotted  and  be- 
smeared copybook. 

A  MOTHER'S  STORY. 

One  day  long  ago  their  father  did  not  come 
home  at  night,  and  on  seeing  the  vacant  place 
at  the  table  Pierre  began  to  cry ;  then  his  mother, 
whose  eyes  were  very  sad,  kissed  him  with 
extraordinary  passion  and  told  him  some  story. 
To  appease  his  curiosity  she  said  the  minister  of 
war  had  ordered  him  away  on  a  mission  to  a 
very  far  off  country.  This  pious  deception  has 
been  practiced  on  them  ever  since. 

At  last  the  great  news  arrived  at  the  house 
that  Dreyfus  had  come  back  to  France.  Then 
the  pious  deception  had  to  be  complicated  in 
all  kinds  of  ways  to  allow  of  the  mother  going 
to  Rennes  to  see  her  husband. 

The  children  did  not  bear  very  patiently  this 
separation  from  their  mother.  Mme.  Dreyfus  re- 
ceived a  letter  at  Rennes  the  other  day  saying 
that  Pierre  was  quite  angry,  and  that  he  and 
Jeanne  were  not  convinced  that  it  was  necessary 
for  their  mother  to  stay  away  so  long. 

"Why,"  wrote  Pierre,  "does  not  father  after 
having  been  away  so  long  ask  for  forty-ei^^ht 


104  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

hours'  leave  of  absence  to  come  to  Paris  ?"  He 
said  he  could  not  believe  the  minister  of  war 
would  refuse  his  father  such  a  small  favor  as 
that,  and  now  what  story  will  the  poor  mother 
tell  them? 

MENTAL  SUFFERINGS  OF  DREYFUS  AS 

DEPICTED  IN  A  LETTER  TO 

HIS  WIFE. 

At  this  moment  of  the  second  conviction  of 
Dreyfus  attention  is  again  called  to  the  letter 
which  he  wrote  his  wife  December  5,  1894,  from 
the  prison  of  Cherche  Midi.    In  this  he  said : 

"I  am  waiting  with  impatience  for  a  letter 
from  you.  You  are  my  hope,  you  are  my  con- 
solation ;  were  it  not  for  you  life  would  be  a  bur- 
den. At  the  bare  thought  that  they  could  ac- 
cuse me  of  a  crime  so  frightful,  so  monstrous, 
my  whole  being  trembles;  my  body  revolts 
against  it.  To  have  worked  all  my  life  for  one 
thing  alone,  to  avenge  my  country,  to  struggle 
for  her  against  the  infamous  ravisher  who  has 
snatched  from  us  our  dear  Alsace,  and  then  to 
be  accused  of  treason  against  that  country — no, 
my  loved  one,  my  mind  refuses  to  comprehend  it. 

"Do  you  remember  my  telling  you  how,  when 
I  was  in  Muhlhausen  ten  years  ago,  in  Septem- 


Dreyfus  and  the  3Iiame  of  France.   105 

ber,  I  heard  a  German  band  under  our  windows 
celebrating  the  anniversary  of  Sedan  ?  My  grief 
was  such  that  I  wept;  I  bit  the  sheets  of  my 
bed  with  rage,  and  I  swore  an  oath  to  consecrate 
all  my  strength,  all  my  intelligence,  to  the  serv- 
ice of  my  country  against  those  who  thus  of- 
fered insult  to  the  grief  of  Alsace. 

"No,  no.  I  will  not  speak  of  it,  for  I  shall  go 
mad,  and  I  must  preserve  all  my  reason.  More- 
over, my  life  has  henceforth  but  one  aim ;  to  find 
the  wretch  who  has  betrayed  his  country ;  to  find 
the  traitor  for  whom  no  punishment  could  be 
too  severe. 

"Oh,  dear  France,  thou  that  I  love  with  all 
my  soul,  with  all  my  heart!  thou  to  whom  I 
have  consecrated  all  my  strength,  all  my  intelli- 
gence, how  could  one  accuse  me  of  a  crime  so 
horrible ! 

"I  will  not  write  upon  this  subject,  my  darling, 
for  spasms  take  me  by  the  throat.  No  man  has 
ever  borne  the  martyrdom  that  I  endure.  No 
physical  sufifering  can  be  compared  to  the  men- 
tal agony  that  I  feel  when  my  thoughts  turn  to 
this  accusation.  If  I  had  not  my  honor  to  de- 
fend, I  assure  you  that  I  should  prefer  death ; 
at  least  death  would  be  forgetfulness.  Write  to 
me  soon.    My  love  to  all.  ALFRED." 


io6  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

TWO  SIGNIFICANT  STATEMENTS. 

HENRY'S    DYING    WORDS    AND    THE 

AWAKENING  OF  DREYFUS. 

The  Dreyfus  ca'se  can  hardly  be  dismissed 
from  the  mind  without  recalHng  two  now  famous 
sentences,  mental  outgrowths  of  the  most  in- 
famous conspiracy  of  modern  or  ancient  times. 
The  first  is  that  of  Colonel  Henry,  wrung  from 
his  lips  when  he  was  confronted  with  his  for- 
geries : 

"I  did  it  for  the  honor  of  the  army." 

The  other  is  from  Dreyfus,  out  of  his  lips  in 
the  prison  of  Rennes; 

"I  was  at  the  start  a  scapegoat.  Now  I  am  a 
pretext.  My  personality  exists  no  longer  for 
those  who  are  pursuing  me.  I  have  been  in  a 
dark  night.    I  am  beginning  to  see." 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  107 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  SECOND  TRIAL  OF  CAPTAIN 
DREYFUS. 

After  four  days  of  secret  session,  during  which 
the  two  mysterious  dossiers  of  the  war  office  and 
foreign  office  were  examined  with  closed  doors, 
the  pubHc  trial  of  Captain  Dreyfus  began  at 
Rennes  Saturday,  August  12.  Curiosity  as  to 
what  passed  during  the  secret  session  was  not 
gratified,  but  it  would  seem  that  the  effect  of 
the  examination  of  the  masses  of  secret  papers 
was  not  startling.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  the 
court  and  Dreyfus  and  the  counsel  were  consid- 
erably bored  by  having  to  go  over  what  was  a 
mass  of  rubbishing  "evidence"  which  would  not 
hang  a  dog,  and  which  contains  scandalous 
documents.  Dreyfus  himself,  says  one  of  the 
Rennes  correspondents,  must  have  been  as- 
tounded by  the  scandalous  nature  of  these  pa- 
pers, and  it  is  just  that  scandalous  character 
which  is  the  real  cause  of  the  secrecy  demanded 
for  their  perusal.    The  diabolical  ingenuity  with 


io8  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

which  they  were  concocted  and  utilized  by  the 
well-known  forgers  in  the  pay  of  not  less  no- 
torious villains  bent  on  ruining  Dreyfus,  would 
surpass  belief  if  it  were  not  already  prepared 
for  incredible  things. 

M.   CASIMIR-PERIER'S   EXPLANATION. 

The  first  day  of  the  resumption  of  the  public 
trial  was  devoted  to  the  testimony  of  M. 
Delaroche  Vernet,  M.  Casimir-Perier,  ex-presi- 
dent of  the  republic,  and  General  Mercier. 
Strange  to  say,  though  this  was  supposed  to  be 
the  critical  moment  of  the  trial,  the  proceedings 
were,  as  a  rule,  very  dull.  M.  Casimir-Perier 
stated  that  it  was  General  Mercier  who  informed 
him  of  the  "leakages"  at  the  headquarters.  In 
January  of  1894  the  German  ambassador  was 
instructed  by  Prince  Hohenlohe  in  the  name  of 
the  emperor  to  call  on  him  and  to  ask  why  the 
German  embassy  was  implicated  by  the  news- 
papers in  the  Dreyfus  affair,  and  if  it  proved  to 
be  not  really  so  implicated,  a  formal  denial  was 
demanded.  "After  handing  him  back  the  dis- 
patch," continued  M.  Casimir-Perier,  "I  pointed 
out  to  the  German  ambassador  that  the  step  he 
had  taken  was  somewhat  unusual ;  that  I,  as 
chief  of  the  state,  was  irresponsible,  and  that  the 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   109 

normal  course  would  be  to  discuss  the  matter 
with  the  responsible  minister,  or,  in  his  absence, 
with  the  premier;  but  that  he  had  appealed  to 
my  good  faith  as  a  private  individual,  and  that, 
in  these  circumstances,  the  ambassador  should 
know  all.  I  then  told  him  that  the  document  had 
been  found  at  the  German  embassy.  The  am- 
bassador replied  that  that  seemed  to  him  impos- 
sible, that  many  documents  were  undoubtedly 
received  there,  but  that  no  important  documents 
could  possibly  be  abstracted.  I  replied  to  him 
that,  happily,  we  no  more  than  he  thought  the 
document  could  be  important;  and  this  declara- 
tion having  been  made,  neither  the  government 
nor  I  myself  implicated  the  German  embassy  in 
the  aflfair,  that  there  was  no  proof  of  the  embassy 
having  asked  for  this  communication,  and  that 
we  no  more  held  it  responsible  for  what  it  re- 
ceived than  we  ourselves  could  be  made  respon- 
sible for  papers  which  were  brought  to  us;  but 
that  the  fact  that,  at  the  embassy  of  a  foreign 
power,  a  document  had  been  found  which  was 
believed  to  have  emanated  from  a  French  officer, 
was  sufficient  to  establish  the  guilt  of  that  offi- 
cer. The  ambassador  insisted  on  having  handed 
to  him  a  most  categorical  note  clearing  the  em- 
bassy from  all  responsibility  in  the  matter." 


no  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

GENERAL  MERCIER'S  "EVIDENCE." 
General  Mercier's  "evidence"  proved  to  be  a 
mere  rehash  of  the  odds  and  ends  of  anti-Drey- 
fus gossip  which  had  caused  him  to  be  "morally 
convinced"  that  Dreyfus  had  written  the  bor- 
dereau. He  posed  also  as  the  man  who  saved 
France  from  a  war  with  Germany.  "To  under- 
stand what  happened  in  1894,"  he  said,  "you 
must  know  what  was  the  political  situation  at 
that  moment,"  and  then  he  went  on  to  tell  how 
M.  Casimir-Perier,  M.  Dupuy,  the  premier,  and 
he  (Mercier)  remained  at  the  Elysee  one  night 
waiting  for  the  communication  of  the  telegrams 
which  were  passing  between  the  Emperor  Will- 
iam and  the  German  ambassador,  and  were  ask- 
ing themselves  whether  the  result  of  that  ex- 
change of  communications  would  be  peace  or 
war.  On  his  part,  he  had  given  orders  to  Gen- 
eral de  Boisdeffre  to  be  ready,  in  case  of  need, 
to  take  all  the  necessary  steps  for  our  mobiliza- 
tion. 

"WITHIN  TWO  FINGER-BREADTHS  OF 
WAR." 

"You  see,  gentlemen,  we  were  within  two  fin- 
ger-breadths of  war,  and  that  is  why  I  said  just 
now  that  you  must  not  always  take  as  ready 
money  the  statements  of  diplomacy.  At  that  mo- 


■^ 


c/*-,     ( 


THE  COURT  MARTIAL  ON  CAPTAIN  DREYFUS  AT 

RENNES 

General  Merder  confronted  with  M.  Casimir-Perier  at  the  second 
public  sitting  of  the  Court. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   113 

ment  was  I,  as  a  statesman,  to  desire  war  for  my 
country?  No,  gentlemen,  and  for  several  rea- 
sons— military  reasons.  Germany  had  begun 
the  transformation  of  her  rapid-fire  guns,  while 
I  had  hardly  obtained  from  parliament  the  first 
credits  for  a  few  batteries.  There  were  also 
diplomatic  reasons.  We  did  not  know  if  the  con- 
ventions which  had  been  negotiated  by  the  pre- 
ceding minister  of  foreign  affairs  would  be  rati- 
fied, and  we  remained  uncertain  as  to  the  atti- 
tude of  Russia.  There  were  also  moral  reasons. 
The  motive  of  such  a  war  would  not  have  g^ven 
us  an  advantageous  position.  Thus,  on  the  one 
side  we  were  confronted  by  the  impossibility  of 
telling  all,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  we  were  under 
an  obligation  to  place  the  court-martial  in  pos- 
session of  all  the  facts.  This  was  the  secret  dos- 
sier." With  such  and  such-like  hysterical  stuff 
did  the  general  take  up  the  time  of  the  court. 
M.  Casimir-Perier  simply  contradicted  it  all. 
Just  before  General  Mercier  concluded  his 
"evidence"  he  turned  towards  Dreyfus  and  said, 
"If  the  slightest  doubt  had  entered  my  mind  I 
should  be  the  first  to  say  that  I  had  blundered 

in  good  faith "  Dreyfus  here  sprang  up  and 

cried  out:  "That  is  what  you  ought  to  say!" 
"And,"  continued  the  general,  "I  would  do  all 
that  is  humanly  possible  to  repair  my  blunder." 


114  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

NO  DOUBT  EXISTS  IN  THE  GENERAL'S 
MIND. 

"It  is  your  duty,"  said  Dreyfus,  and  he  seemed 
about  to  rush  upon  his  tormentor.  "Well,"  said 
Mercier,  "no.  My  conviction  ever  since  1894 
has  not  undergone  the  slightest  change.  It  has 
been  strengthened  by  my  study  of  the  dossier, 
in  spite  of  the  immensity  of  the  efforts  which 
have  been  accumulated,  in  spite  of  the  millions 
which  have  been  insanely  expended."  As  he  left 
the  court  Mercier  was  hooted  by  some  of  the 
audience,  but  outside  he  was  received  with 
shouts  of  "Vive  I'armee." 

On  Monday  was  committed  the  atrocious  deed 
which  caused  so  great  an  emotion — the  at- 
tempted assassination  of  Maitre  Labori,  one  of 
the  counsel  for  Dreyfus,  whose  ability  and  fear- 
lessness have  always  been  the  bugbear  of  the 
anti-Dreyfus  party.  Maitre  Labori  was  on  his 
way  to  the  court,  accompanied  by  Colonel  Pic- 
quart  and  that  officer's  brother-in-law,  M.  Gast, 
when  he  was  set  upon  by  a  man,  who  fired  a 
revolver  at  him,  the  shot  hitting  him  in  the  back. 
The  ruffian,  though  pursued  by  Colonel  Picquart 
and  M.  Gast,  made  good  his  escape.  Madame 
Labori,  who  was  on  her  way  to  join  her  hus- 
band, was  soon  at  his  side,  and  he  was  removed 
by  his  friends  to  his  hotel.    Not  the  least  sus- 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  115 

picious  fact  in  connection  with  the  outrage  is 
the  circumstance  that  the  victim  had  his  pockets 
rifled  while  lying  helpless  on  the  ground,  though, 
as  he  never  lost  consciousness,  he  managed  to 
retain  his  brief.  The  trial  went  on  in  his  ab- 
sence, but  the  evidence  of  Generals  Billot,  Zur- 
linden,  Chanoine,  and  of  MM.  Cavaig^ac  and 
Hanotaux,  did  not  produce  any  effect. 

PUBLIC  TRIAL. 

The  trial  was  resumed  publicly  early  on  Mon- 
day morning  in  the  hall  of  the  Lycee,  of  Rennes, 
before  an  audience  of  some  600  people,  of  whom 
more  than  half  were  members  of  the  press, 
French  and  foreign.  At  a  few  minutes  after 
seven  the  court  appeared.  The  witnesses,  among 
whom  were  M.  Casimir-Perier,  ex-president  of 
the  republic ;  Colonel  Picquart,  M.  Cavaignac, 
ex-war  minister ;  the  experts  in  handwriting,  and 
the  officers  of  the  headquarter  staff  of  1894,  were 
already  in  their  places  to  answer  to  their  names. 
Dreyfus  then  entered  the  court,  an  entrance,  says 
one  of  the  eye-witnesses,  which  caused  a  thrill 
as  of  an  apparition  of  one  risen  from  the  dead. 
Erect  and  calm,  he  saluted,  took  his  seat,  and 
then,  after  the  formal  documents  had  been  read, 
in  reply  to  the  president,  who,  turning  to  him, 
but  not  looking  him  straight  in  the  face,  said: 


ii6  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

"Accused,  stand  up."  Dreyfus  faced  his  judges 
for  the  second  time. 

The  President :  "You  are  accused  of  the  crime 
of  treason  in  having  deHvered  to  the  agent  of  a 
foreign  power  documents  enumerated  in  a  docu- 
ment called  the  bordereau.  The  law  gives  you 
the  right  to  say  all  that  is  useful  for  your  de- 
fense, and  I  warn  your  defenders  that  they  must 
express  themselves  with  decency  and  modera- 
tion." Colonel  Jouaust  then  read  out  the  bor- 
dereau, and  went  on:  "This  document  has  al-^ 
ready  been  brought  before  you.  Do  you  ac- 
knowledge it?" 

Dreyfus :  "It  was  brought  before  me  in  1894. 
As  for  acknowledging  it,  I  affirm  that  I  do  not. 
I  affirm  again  that  I  am  innocent,  as  I  have  al- 
ready affirmed  in  1894.  I  have  borne  all  for  five 
years,  colonel;  I  bore  all  for  the  honor  of  my 
name  and  my  children.    I  am  innocent,  colonel." 

The  President :    "Then  you  deny  the  charge  ?" 

Dreyfus:    "Yes,  colonel." 

The  president  then  questioned  Dreyfus  on 
each  of  the  documents  mentioned  in  the  bor- 
dereau. To  all  the  questions  put  to  him  during 
the  brusque  interrogatory  of  Colonel  Jouaust, 
Dreyfus  replied  without  hesitation,  denying,  ex- 
plaining and  refusing  the  questions  one  by  one. 
Questioned  as  to  the  alleged  confession  made 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  117 

to  Captain  Lebrun-Renault  at  his  degradation, 
Dreyfus  said :  "That  conversation  was  a  soHlo- 
quy.  I  said,  'I  am  innocent.'  I  felt  that  there 
was  a  crowd  there  to  whom  they  were  about  to 
show  a  man  whom  they  thought  had  committed 
the  most  abominable  crime  that  a  soldier  can 
commit.  I  wished  to  cry  out  to  them,  'It  is  not 
I  whom  are  guilty.'  I  said:  *I  will  cry  out  my 
innocence  in  face  of  the  people,'  and,  I  added, 
'the  minister  well  knows  it.'  " 

At  the  end  of  the  interrogatory  the  president 
asked  Major  Carriere,  the  government  commis- 
sary, whether  he  had  anything  to  say  as  to  the 
communication  to  the  court  of  the  secret  dossier. 
Major  Carriere  replied  that  the  communication 
of  secret  dossiers  ought  to  be  made  with  closed 
doors — "dans  un  huis  clos  absolu" — and  he  pro- 
posed to  the  court-martial  to  vote  on  the  ques- 
tion that  on  the  toUowing  day  the  secret  dossier 
of  the  ministry  of  war  and  the  diplomatic  dossier 
of  the  ministry  of  foreign  affairs  should  be  com- 
municated with  closed  doors,  and  that  the  public 
sittings  should  be  suspended  for  four  days.  The 
court  retired  to  consider  the  point,  and.  on  re- 
turning, the  result  was  announced  as  in  favor  of 
closed  doors  by  five  votes  to  two. 


ii8  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

EXAMINATION  OF  WITNESSES. 

There  was  a  sentence  in  the  report  from 
Rennes  of  one  of  the  many  special  correspond- 
ents there,  which  seems  to  sum  up  in  a  nutshell 
the  manner  in  which  the  trial  of  Dreyfus  was 
conducted.  "Colonel  Jouaust  seems  to  assist 
those  who  depose  against  Dreyfus;  but  this  is 
due  to  the  fear  of  being  accused  by  the  assassin 
press  of  favoring  him."  Fear !  that  is  the  word 
for  France.  Fear  of  war,  fear  of  the  truth,  fear 
of  the  press;  always  fear — moral  and  physical 
cowardice — and  in  the  midst  of  it  all  one  unfor- 
tunate man,  with  c  few  who  are  honest  and  brave 
on  his  side,  being  tried  again  after  years  of  suf- 
fering already  inflicted  on  him  by  panic-stricken 
generals  who  were  afraid  first  of  Germany  and 
then  of  admitting  that  they  have  made  a  mis- 
take. 

Maitre  Labori's  return  to  the  court,  after  a 
quick  recovery  from  the  attempt  on  his  life,  has 
been  the  feature  of  the  Dreyfus  week  so  far.    In 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  119 

his  absence  the  generals  and  officials  who  are 
really  conducting  the  cowardly  prosecution  of 
Dreyfus  have  had  their  way,  for  Maitre  De- 
mange,  Labori's  colleague  for  the  defense,  has 
for  some  reason  best  known  to  himself  abstained 
from  interruptiiig  them  or  cross-examining  them 
to  any  great  extent.  With  the  arrival  on  the 
scene  of  Roget,  says  one  of  the  eye-witnesses, 
we  beheld  the  most  eloquent  and  influential  ad- 
versary of  Dreyfus.  With  a  singular  ease  and 
a  not  less  effective  style  of  categorical  affirma- 
tion, and  with  an  adroitness  and  rhetorical  in- 
genuity smacking  of  the  methods  of  dialectic  uni- 
formly described  as  Jesuitical,  he  spoke  for  two 
hours  in  his  insinuating  way,  not  merely  hold- 
ing the  attention  of  the  judges  on  account  of 
his  rare  conversational  powers,  but  interesting 
and  surprising  them  by  the  insidious  suggestive- 
ness  of  his  methods.  He  laid  down  the  law.  His 
air  was  that  of  a  general  who  seemed  to  think 
that  judgment  by  order  belonged  to  the  normal 
course  of  things.  And,  unlike  any  of  his  pred- 
ecessors, he  had  steeled  himself  to  meet  the 
steady  gaze  of  Dreyfus'  eye.  His  manner  in  this 
regard  was  startling  and  dramatic.  He  stopped 
a  dozen  times  in  his  indictment,  quite  leisurely 
poured  himself  out  a  glass  of  water,  and,  before 
and  after  quaffing  it  and  while  wiping  the  per- 


120  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

spiration  from  his  forehead,  fixed  Dreyfus  with 
a  steady,  disdainful  gaze.  Dreyfus  met  this  in- 
solent look  unflinchingly.  The  general  was  evi- 
dently trying  to  provoke  the  prisoner.  He 
wanted  a  scene  in  court.  He  sought  to  execute 
Dreyfus  with  a  look. 

WIDOW  OF  COLONEL  HENRY. 

Madame  Henry,  the  widow  of  the  forger  and 
suicide,  M.  Lebon,  the  minister  of  the  colonies ; 
General  Zurlinden,  General  de  Boisdeffre,  and 
others  whose  names  are  famous  in  the  affaire, 
have  all  been  on  the  stand,  but  it  cannot  be  said 
that  their  evidence  has  really  borne  upon  the 
question  of  the  prisoner's  guilt  or  innocence, 

Madame  Henry  said  that  if  her  husband  com- 
mitted a  forgery  on  account  of  Colonel  Pic- 
quart's  acts  it  was  to  "save  the  army."  Lebon 
said  he  considered  the  judgment  of  1894  "legal 
and  intact,"  and  that  if  he  had  to  deal  again 
with  a  man  thus  convicted  he  would  act  again 
the  same  way — namely,  inflict  tortures  upon  him. 
The  reading  of  the  report  of  those  tortures  made 
a  profound  impression  upon  the  court,  and 
Dreyfus  broke  down  under  the  recollection  of 
what  he  had  suffered.  At  the  end  of  Lebon's 
deposition  he  said,  "I  have  not  come  here  to 
speak  of  the  tortures  and  the  atrocious  suffer- 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   121 

ings  inflicted  for  five  years  on  a  Frenchman  and 
an  innocent  man.  I  am  here  solely  to  defend  my 
honor,  and  shall  therefore  say  nothing  of  what 
passed  for  five  years  on  the  He  du  Diable." 

The  deposition  of  M.  Bertulus,  the  juge  d'in- 
struction,  was  the  first  during  the  trial  which 
was  wholly  in  Dreyfus'  favor.  He  spoke  of  the 
collusion  between  the  officers  of  the  general  staff 
and  Esterhazy;  of  the  strong  probability  that 
Esterhazy  and  Henry  were  accomplices,  and  of 
the  network  of  hypothesis  in  which  it  had  been 
sought  to  enmesh  Dreyfus.  "But,"  he  contin- 
ued, "I  now  say  to  you  on  my  soul  and  con- 
science, because  I  have  followed  the  case  now 
for  many  months,  that  I  do  not  believe  him 
guilty." 

AN  HEROIC  AND  HONORABLE 
FRENCHMAN. 

Colonel  Picquart,  in  discussing  the  authorship 
of  the  bordereau,  said  that,  in  his  opinion,  the 
department  in  which  a  search  should  have  been 
made  when  the  existence  of  the  bordereau  was 
discovered  at  the  ministry  of  war  was  the  depart- 
ment of  Du  Paty  de  Clam,  because  that  depart- 
ment was  at  work  upon  the  plan  of  the  covering 
troops  and  the  Madagascar  expedition.  It  was, 
he  repeated,  in  that  officer's  department  that  a 


122  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

search  should  have  been  made,  or,  rather,  in 
his  private  room,  where  he  worked  quite  alone. 
Colonel  Du  Paty  de  Clam  had  been  guilty  of 
the  grave  imprudence  of  having,  contrary  to 
regulations,  had  confidential  documents  copied 
by  mere  secretaries,  non-commissioned  officers, 
or  even  common  soldiers,  whereas  the  custom 
was  that  such  work  should  be  done  solely  by  offi- 
cers. As  to  the  secret  dossier  which  Picquart 
saw  when  he  was  at  the  war  ofhce  he  said  he  was 
"perfectly  astounded  at  its  contents.  I  thought 
I  should  find  in  it  some  crushing  proofs,  and  I 
found  nothing."  After  Picquart  came  another 
relay  of  war  office  witnesses — Cuignet,  De  Bois- 
deflfre,  Gonse,  Fabre,  d'Aboville  and  others,  of 
whose  testimony  it  can  only  be  said,  as  the  cor- 
respondent of  the  Times  remarked,  that  it  is  a 
farrago  of  old  wives'  tales  which  would  shame 
the  gossip  of  an  afternoon  tea  party  of  village 
spinsters. 


J£N*^^ 


■tCRH^ 


WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN  MOST  AFFECTED    BY  THE 
VERDICT 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   125 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

A  CRANK  AND  HIS  SYSTEM. 

The  typical  Dreyfus  crank  appeared  in  the 
person  of  M.  Bertillon,  the  "expert,"  who  had 
woven  a  spider-Hke  web  of  squares  and  triangles 
and  strange  geometric  and  necromantic  figfures, 
wherein  to  enmesh  Dreyfus;  a  "system"  with 
"gabaritic  master  words,"  and  "imbrications  of 
a  millimetre  and  a  quarter" — a  weird  sort  of 
abracadabra,  which,  in  the  old  days,  would  have 
tended  to  the  hanging,  not  of  Dreyfus,  but  of 
Bertillon  himself.  The  scene  in  court  during 
Bertillon's  deposition  was,  as  one  of  the  eye-wit- 
nesses said,  like  one  of  the  old  witch  trials  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  "In  a  low  but  firm  and 
rapid  voice  he  began  to  expound.  Presently, 
warming  to  his  work,  he  leaped  upon  his  port- 
folio, tore  it  open,  and  dashed  at  the  president 
with  a  framed  photograph.  He  darted  from 
judge  to  judge ;  the  government  commissary  and 
the  registrar  and  the  counsel  gathered  round. 


126  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

Then,  suddenly,  with  a  wild  whoop,  he  burst  out 
of  the  throng,  waving  the  frame  round  and 
round  his  head,  like  a  tomahawk.  "Five  milli- 
metres reticulation,"  he  yelled  in  triumph; 
"12.5  centimetres  gabarit  and  a  millimetre  and  a 
quarter  imbrication !  Always  you  find  it — al- 
ways— always !" 

Among  the  other  experts — but  a  man  very 
different  from  Bertillon — was  M,  Gobert,  the  ex- 
pert to  the  Bank  of  France,  who  expressed  his 
conviction  that  the  writing  of  the  bordereau  was 
natural  writing,  and  who  came  into  conflict  with 
General  Gonse  on  the  question  of  the  bordereau 
and  the  relations  of  the  Bank  of  France  with  the 
officers  of  the  First  Bureau.  Dreyfus,  whose  de- 
meanor was  very  much  changed  from  the  early 
days  of  the  trial,  being  bolder  and  firmer  and 
more  assertive  of  his  rights,  denied  ever  having 
been  to  the  bank  at  all.  On  the  whole,  there- 
fore, Gonse  did  not  come  out  well,  and  the 
tactics  of  the  generals  received  another  check. 
The  return  of  Maitre  Labori  to  the  court  after 
his  recovery  had  led  to  an  incident  which  was 
the  subject  of  some  comment  at  the  time — the 
friendly  greeting  between  him  and  Mercier ;  but 
it  soon  became  apparent  that  the  generals  would 
have  to  do  their  best — or  worst — under  the  keen 
counter-attack  of  the  famous  advocate. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  127 

DOWN  THE  GAUNTLET. 
The  culminating  point  of  interest  in  the  pro- 
ceedings was  reached  when  Captain  Freystaetter 
was  called.  He  was  one  of  the  judges  at  the 
original  court-martial  in  1894,  and  he  was  now 
confronted  with  Colonel  Maurel,  who  was  the 
president  at  that  trial.  Freystaetter  now  deposed 
that  his  belief  in  the  prisoner's  guilt  was  due  to 
the  evidence  of  the  experts  and  of  Major  Henry 
and  Major  Du  Paty  de  Clam.  It  was  strength- 
ened by  the  reading  of  the  secret  documents 
which  were  communicated  to  them  in  the  judges' 
room.  The  secret  dossier  contained  (i)  a 
biographical  dossier  imputing  to  Dreyfus  acts  of 
treason  committed  at  the  gunnery  school  at 
Bourges,  at  the  Military  College,  and  while  he 
was  at  the  headquarters  staflf;  (2)  the  document 

known  by  the  name  of  "Ce  canaille  de  D ;" 

(3)  a  letter  which  by  showing  the  resemblance 
in  handwriting  proved  the  genuineness  of  the 

document  "Ce  canaille  de  D ,'  and  which 

was  known  as  the  Davignon  letter;  (4)  a  tele- 
gram from  a  foreign  military  attache  which  posi- 
tively asserted  the  prisoner's  guilt.  "This  tele- 
gram, if  I  remember  rightly,"  continued  Cap- 
tain Freystaetter,  "was  in  the  following  terms : 
'Dreyfus  arrested ;  emissary  warned.'  " 


128  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

A  SCENE  IN  COURT. 

Forthwith  Maurel  and  Mercier  rose  and  de- 
manded to  be  heard.  Maurel  spoke  first.  "I 
have  only  one  word  to  say,"  he  exclaimed.  "The 
other  day  Maitre  Labori  drew  me  from  the 
grounds  of  argument  to  that  of  the  secret  de- 
liberations. I  replied:  'I  only  read  one  docu- 
ment.' I  did  not  say  that  only  one  document 
was  read.  I  did  not  go  further  than  that,  as  I 
did  not  wish  to  violate  the  secret  of  the  judges' 
deliberations.  In  answer  to  questions  of  coun- 
sel for  the  defense,  which  might  have  led  me  to 
say  more  than  I  wished,  I  said,  'I  only  read  one 
document.'  After  reading  that  document  I 
handed  the  dossier  to  the  clerk,  remarking,  'I 
am  tired.'  " 

Maitre  Labori  requested  the  president  to  ask 
Colonel  Maurel  whether  he  confirmed  the 
explanation  given  by  Captain  Freystaetter,  and 
whether  he  confirmed  what  the  latter  had  said 
in  regard  to  him.  Colonel  Maurel  said,  "I  reply 
in  all  frankness  and  in  all  truth.  I  only  listened 
to  the  reading  of  the  documents  in  a  very  ab- 
sent-minded way.  It  was  not  interesting.  That 
is  all.  Monsieur  le  President;  I  remember  noth- 
ing else."  Freystaetter  then  stated  that  he  had 
only  seen  these  documents,  but  that  Colonel 
Maurel  had  them  in  his  hands.     And,  further, 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   129 

that  Maurel  made  a  comment  on  each  document. 
Colonel  Maurel  protested  against  the  word 
"comment,"  and  pale  with  anger  went  on  to  say : 
"I  could  not  act  in  the  matter  as  Captain  Frey- 
staetter  asserts.  I  was  too  conscious  of  my  duty 
to  allow  myself  to  influence  in  any  way  what- 
soever the  judges,  whose  president  I  was,  and 
if  what  Captain  Freystaetter  has  just  said  of  me 
had  been  done  in  my  presence,  if  the  president 
had  attempted  to  exercise  pressure  on  me,  a 
judge,  if  he  had  attempted  to  influence  me,  not- 
withstanding his  age,  notwithstanding  his  rank, 
notwithstanding  his  office,  I  should  have  re- 
minded him  of  his  duty.  I  should  not  have 
waited  five  years  before  coming  forward  to  pro- 
voke a  scene  in  open  court.  I  have  finished.  I 
will  say  no  more  in  reply  to  Captain  Freystaet- 
ter." 

"CAUGHT  IN  THE  ACT  OF  LYING." 

Maitre  Labori  then  invited  General  Mercier  to 
furnish  some  explanation,  and  the  general  asked 
Freystaetter  what  was  referred  to  in  the  note 
to  which  he  had  alluded.  "It  referred  to  a  shell," 
said  Freystaetter.  "Very  well,"  said  Mercier, 
"Captain  Freystaetter  is  caught  in  the  very  act 
of  lying,  for  the  Robin  shell  was  only  adopted 
by  Germany  in  1895  and  we  were  not  informed 


130  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

of  the  treachery  until  1896."  Freystaetter  ad- 
hered to  his  statement  that  a  shell  was  men- 
tioned in  the  comments  which  were  submitted  to 
the  judges  in  1894.  Mercier,  then,  referring  to 
the  telegram  of  November  2,  maintained  that  it 
was  not  communicated  to  the  court  in  1894, 
whereupon  Freystaetter  said  that  he  was  sure 
he  saw  it.  Maitre  Labori,  rising,  said  that  in 
view  of  the  scene  which  had  just  occurred  he 
insisted  that  the  condition  of  the  health  of 
Colonel  Du  Paty  de  Clam  should  be  examined 
by  well-known  doctors.  General  Mercier  having 
already  stated  that  the  packet  containing  the 
secret  documents  was  prepared  by  Du  Paty  de 
Clam.  To  this  Mercier  replied  that  he  had  said 
that  he  had  learned  from  General  Boisdeffre  that 
the  packet  had  been  delivered  by  Du  Paty  de 
Clam,  and  that  he  had  said  that  it  was  Colonel 
Sandherr  who  had  prepared  it.  "Always  the 
dead!"  exclaimed  Labori.  "Colonel  Sandherr  is 
dead.  Colonel  Henry  is  dead,  and  it  is  their  testi- 
mony that  is  constantly  cited."  And  so  ended 
one  of  the  most  exciting  scenes  of  the  Dreyfus 
drama.  Mercier,  who  had  the  day  before  said 
that  he  assumed  the  moral  responsibility  of  com- 
municating the  secret  dossier  to  the  court-mar- 
tial of  1894,  now  quibbling  and  giving  the  lie 
direct;  Maurel,  trembling  beneath  the  fierce  or- 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   131 

deal  of  confrontation  with  one  of  his  fellow- 
judges  of  1894;  and  Freystaetter,  calm  under  in- 
sult, holding  to  convictions  which  all  who  have 
followed  the  course  of  the  trial  believed  to  be 
true  and  sincere — these  have  done  much  to  turn 
public  opinion  in  the  favor  of  Captain  Dreyfus. 

M.  DE  FREYCINET  KNOWS  NOTHING 
ABOUT  THE  DREYFUS  DE- 
FENSE FUND. 

M.  de  Freycinet,  ex-minister  of  war,  then  gave 
his  testimony,  such  as  it  was,  to  the  court.  He 
said  he  had  had  a  conversation  with  General 
Jamont  as  to  the  funds  supplied  abroad  for  the 
defense  of  Dreyfus,  but  that  of  himself  he  knew 
nothing  definite  on  the  subject  beyond  what  the 
French  agents  abroad  had  reported.  What  had 
struck  him  most  in  the  conversation  was  the 
identity  of  their  anxiety  as  to  the  army.  M.  de 
Freycinet  concluded  his  evidence  by  an  appeal 
to  all  to  "cease  throwing  in  one  another's  faces 
those  accusations  which  discredit  us  in  the  eyes 
of  our  rivals.  Gentlemen,  let  us  prepare,  and  I 
would  that  my  feeble  voice  were  heard  by  all — 
let  us  prepare  to  accept  your  judgment  with  re- 
spect and  in  silence.  May  the  judgment  of  this 
French  court,  towards  which  the  whole  world 


132  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

has  its  eyes  turned,  open  the  era  of  reconcilia- 
tion which  is  so  necessary." 

It  was  an  impressive  appeal,  no  doubt.  But  it 
made  no  mention  of  the  man  who  had  suffered 
most  under  the  accusation  which  had  brought 
discredit  upon  the  army  and  upon  France. 
Those  who  expected  much  from  the  "White 
Mouse"  were  disappointed,  but  others  who  knew 
M.  de  Freycinet  knew  that  the  wily  old  politician 
would  never  say  a  direct  "Yes"  or  "No"  to  any 
question  if  he  could  wriggle  out  of  it.  And  he 
did  wriggle  out  of  it  in  his  best  style. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  Frauce.  133 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

END  OF  THE  FAMOUS  TRIAL. 

While  groups  of  soldiers  threw  dice  in  the 
courtyard  of  the  Lycee  in  the  afternoon  of  Sep- 
tember 9,  five  French  officers  did  a  deed  which 
history  will  place  side  by  side  with  the  judgment 
of  Pilate.  The  Roman  governor  crucified  an  in- 
nocent man  to  please  a  mob.  This  tribunal  con- 
demned an  innocent  man  to  satisfy  the  vanity 
of  a  few  generals. 

The  parallel  runs  farther.  The  martyr  of  nine- 
teen hundred  years  ago  incarnated  the  virtue  and 
regeneration  of  his  race.  The  victim  of  this 
judgment  typifies  the  truth  and  righteousness 
of  modern  civilization.  Calvary  involved  more 
than  the  fate  of  the  Jewish  people,  and  the  Drey- 
fus case  signifies  more  than  the  political  future 
of  France,  which  it  directly  concerns. 

The  consequences  will  be  so  far  reaching  and 
so  important  to  the  vital  interests  of  humanity 
at  large  that  the  fate  of  the  individual  directly 
affected  can  hardly  enter  into  the  account  in  es- 
timating what  the  future  portends. 


134  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

VISIBLE  CURSE  UPON  FRANCE. 

It  is  not  even  worth  while  to  denounce  the 
five  men  whose  voices  brought  France  face  to 
face  with  the  most  terrible  crisis  in  all  her  bloody 
history.  They  stand  for  that  new  element  in 
civilization  which  makes  Europe  an  armed  camp 
in  time  of  peace. 

They  represent  that  new  thing  in  ethics,  "mili- 
tary justice."  They  typify  that  visible  curse 
which  descends  upon  France  about  once  in  a 
generation — arrogance,  intolerance  and  blind 
discontent  with  the  existing  order  of  things. 

In  the  dispatches  it  was  said  that  a  verdict  of - 
condemnation  after  the  refusal  of  the  judges  to 
hear  Colonel  Schwartzkoppen  and  Panizzardi, 
the  only  witnesses  whose  evidence  would  clearly 
demonstrate  the  prisoner's  guilt  or  innocence, 
would  mean  the  existence  of  a  military  revolu- 
tionary plot. 

Danger  of  this  kind  never  appears  at  the  mo- 
ment it  is  expected  in  France.  It  is  when  pre- 
cautions are  relaxed  that  the  blow  falls,  and  so 
it  may  prove  ere  long. 

CLOSING  DAYS  OF  THE  TRIAL. 

The  judges  returned  to  the  court  room  to  ren- 
der their  verdict  at  a  quarter  to  five.    The  au- 


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Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France,   j-- 

dience  was  standing,  and  all  ears  were  strained 
to  catch  the  vital  word. 

The  president's  voice  was  low  and  rapid.  Gen- 
eral Jouaust  read  in  a  monotone  till  he  came 
to  the  word  "guilty." 

A  strange  sound  arose  all  over  the  court — a 
general  gasp,  a  curse,  a  stamp  of  a  foot,  then 
breathless  silence.  Confusion  was  caused  by  a 
man  fainting.  He  was  held  up  by  friends,  who 
kept  their  eyes  fixed  on  the  judges.  The  end  of 
the  judgment  was  awaited  with  anxiety. 

All  the  gendarmes  turned  and  faced  the  au- 
dience, expecting  an  outbreak.  But  there  was 
no  further  manifestations.  The  audience  filed 
out  in  good  order. 

IMPRISONMENT  FOR  TEN  YEARS. 

The  sentence  was  ten  years'  imprisonment  in 
a  French  fortress.  The  live  years  he  had  al- 
ready served  did  not  count;  he  must  serve  ten 
years  from  the  day  of  degradation,  which  must 
take  place  within  fifteen  days,  if  there  be  no  ap- 
peal to  the  Court  of  Revision  within  eight  days. 

The  judges  took  one  ballot  on  the  question,  is 
Dreyfus  guilty  or  not  ?    Two  judges  voted  no. 

The  judges  then  discussed  the  penalty.  The 
two  judges  in  favor  of  Dreyfus  pressed  for  a  low 
penalty  on  account  of  his  sufferings  and  induced 


138  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

the  others  to  fix  it  at  ten  years,  which  is  the  low- 
est possible  penalty  for  the  crime  of  which  he 
was  found  guilty.  In  fact,  the  judges  lowered 
the  penalty  to  two  degrees  less  than  has  ever 
before  been  known  in  the  French  army  for  a  con- 
viction of  this  kind. 

EFFECT  ON  PRISONER  AND  LAWYERS. 

Dreyfus  was  waiting,  with  feelings  that  can 
only  be  imagined,  in  a  room  back  of  the  stage. 
Labori  sat  in  a  chair  as  if  paralyzed.  A  moment 
before,  as  the  judges  came  in,  he  had  been  pull- 
ing the  end  of  his  beard  in  quiet  satisfaction,  con- 
fident that  after  Demange's  speech  the  verdict 
would  be  four  to  three.  The  result  stupefied  him. 
Demange  sat  collapsed,  saddened  to  the  last  de- 
gree. It  v/as  evident  in  the  heat,  fervor  and  feel- 
ing of  the  close  of  his  speech  that  his  whole 
heart  was  set  in  securing  the  freedom  of  his 
client.  His  voice  was  deeply  hoarse,  worn  down 
by  his  long  speech ;  his  face  was  as  solemn  as 
tragedy.  When  the  verdict  came  he  sat  like  a 
man  who  has  just  heard  news  of  death. 

M.  Hild  stepped  along  the  corridor  to  the 
room  where  Dreyfus  was,  went  in,  and  closed  the 
door.  Dreyfus  looked  at  him  and  saw  from  his 
face  he  had  bad  news.    Dreyfus  said :  "Tell  me." 

/'Ten  years  in  a  French  fortress," 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  139 

Dreyfus  turned  white,  sank  into  a  chair,  and 
covered  his  face  with  his  hands.  He  sat  a  long 
time,  neither  Hild  nor  the  gendarme  saying  any- 
thing.   Then  an  usher  came  to  call  Dreyfus. 

He  said :    "One  moment." 

He  rose  like  a  drunken  man,  his  eyes  un- 
steady, and  passed  his  hand  over  his  brow.  The 
color  was  all  gone  out  of  his  face.  The  usher 
gave  him  a  moment  to  pull  himself  together, 
then  the  prisoner  went  into  court  to  hear  the  de- 
cision read.  Dreyfus  listened  stupidly,  facing 
Coupois,  who  read  it.  He  said  nothing,  went 
out,  and  was  taken  over  to  prison  like  a  man 
under  the  influence  of  morphine. 

SCENES  ABOUT  THE  COURT. 

Words  cannot  describe  the  painful,  tremen- 
dous shock  of  the  verdict.  When  the  judges 
came  in  their  faces  were  eagerly  scanned.  They 
gave  everybody  hope.  Jouaust  looked  gentle 
and  genial ;  even  Brogniart  looked  quietly 
pleased.  All  the  court  looked  like  men  who  had 
done  a  kindly  act  and  felt  better.  The  curse 
which  went  up  from  the  audience  was  so  bitter, 
so  strange,  when  the  verdict  was  given  that 
those  who  heard  it  will  never  forget  it.  Then 
men  turned  their  heads  away  and  took  no  further 
notice  of  the  penalty.    Dreyfus  was  guilty.  Hope 


140  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

was  gone.  The  Dreyfusards  were  depressed, 
busy  with  their  own  thoughts.  The  anti-Drey- 
fus men  were  maHciously  satisfied.  Their  Hps 
curled  in  contemptuous  triumph.  The  pohce  and 
gendarmes  hurried  everybody  away  from  the 
Lycee  and  absolutely  barred  return. 

Outside  the  court,  in  the  squares  and  cafes, 
a  sort  of  spell  seemed  to  be  over  men — over  the 
whole  city.  There  was  no  outbreak,  no  threat, 
no  anger,  no  passion.  Everybody  seemed  to  be 
in  a  state  of  shock. 

This  shows  how  general  was  the  conviction 
that  the  verdict  would  be  at  least  four  to  three. 
It  was  fully  an  hour  before  bitterness  began  to 
manifest  itself,  beginning  with  fiery,  caustic  dis- 
patches which  Socialists  and  Dreyfusards  began 
to  place  on  the  wires. 

MME.  DREYFUS  PREPARED  FOR 
VERDICT. 

Meanwhile  the  sickening  news  was  being  con- 
veyed to  Mme.  Dreyfus  by  .Georges  Hadamard, 
her  brother.  Hadamard  is  a  gentle  fellow, 
slender,  about  35,  with  a  small  blonde  mustache. 
He  used  to  ride  up  the  Rue  with  confidence  and 
joy.  He  fully  expected  acquittal,  as  did  Mme. 
Dreyfus  up  to  the  last  moment.  He  walked 
slowly  up  the  Avenue  de  la  Gare  to  the  house, 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   141 

about  three  blocks  away.  His  father,  impatient, 
came  out  of  the  gate  to  meet  him.  When  he 
heard  the  news  he  stopped  a  moment  to  reaUze 
it.  Then  both  went  in  together.  Mme.  Had- 
amard,  the  mother  of  Mme.  Dreyfus,  was  on  the 
steps  of  the  house,  crying.  She  did  not  need  to 
be  told.  Then  all  went  in  together.  Georges 
told  the  news  to  the  old  people,  who  tried  to 
comfort  their  daughter. 

Mme.  Dreyfus  took  it  calmly,  as  if  prepared 
for  it.  The  only  agony  she  seemed  to  experience 
was  dread  of  the  second  degradation,  from  which 
she  recoiled  in  horror. 

HOW  THE  JUDGES  VOTED. 

The  scene  when  the  judges  balloted  will  be 
memorable.    General  Jouaust  said : 

"The  first  question  before  the  council  is 
whether  or  not  the  accused  is  guilty  of  having 
communicated  the  documents  mentioned  in  the 
bordereau  to  a  foreign  power.  The  members  of 
the  council  will  answer  'yes'  or  *no'  as  their 
names  are  called."  He  then  called  the  roll,  with 
the  following  responses : 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Brongniart — Yes. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  de  Breon — No. 

Commandant  Merle — Yes. 

Captain  Parfait — Yes. 


142  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

Captain  Beauvais — No. 

Gaptain  Profillet — Yes. 

There  was  a  moment  of  suspense,  which  was 
ended  sharply  by  Jouaust  saying:  "The  presi- 
dent of  the  council  votes  yes." 

The  long  struggle  of  years  for  revision  and 
rehabilitation  of  honor  was  at  an  end. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   143 


CHAPTER  XV. 

RECAPITULATION  OF  THE  COURT  OF 
CASSATION. 

What  the  Supreme  Tribunal  of  France  Decided 
in  the  Dreyfus  Case,  and  How  the  Court- 
Martial  Defied  its  Judgments  and 
NulHfied  Its  Intent  to  the  Un- 
doing of  Law  and  the 
Defeat  of  Justice. 

The  verdict  of  the  Rennes  court-martial  in  the 
Dreyfus  case  was  in  flagrant  contempt  and  de- 
fiance of  the  opinion  of  the  very  highest  court 
in  France, 

The  Court  of  Cassation  is  the  supreme  trib- 
unal of  the  republic.  It  was  composed  of  forty- 
seven  eminent  jurists — the  most  eminent  in 
France — when  it  examined  the  evidence  in  the 
Dreyfus  case  and  decided  not  only  that  the  ac- 
cused was  innocent  but — to  quote  its  own  em- 
phatic words — that — 

"The  sentence  of  1894  has  no  longer  any 
foundation  to  rest  upon." 


144  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

Upon  the  evidence  of  the  bordereau  itself  and 
of  the  experts  who  had  examined  it  the  Court 
of  Cassation  decided  positively,  and  without  so 
much  as  a  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the  eminent 
judges : 

That  Dreyfus  did  not  write  that  paper,  and 
that  Esterhazy  did ; 

That  Dreyfus  did  not  sell  or  give  information 
to  the  possible  enemies  of  France,  and  that  Es- 
terhazy did ; 

That  Dreyfus  was  innocent  and  Esterhazy 
guilty. 

The  highest  court  in  France  decided  further: 

That  the  conviction  of  Dreyfus  had  been  se- 
cured by  the  Henry  forgery  and  other  crimes ; 

That  a  false  date  had  been  given  to  the  un- 
dated bordereau  in  order  to  convict  Dreyfus,  and 
that  the  same  conspirators  who  had  assigned  this 
date  to  it  afterward  gave  it  a  widely  different 
date  in  order  to  acquit  Esterhazy ; 

That  the  change  of  date  left  no  room  what- 
ever for  the  condemnation  of  Dreyfus,  but  in 
fact  established  his  innocence. 

Still  further  this  highest  court  in  France  de- 
cided : 

That  false,  fraudulent  and  inadmissible  testi- 
mony had  been  submitted  against  Dreyfus ; 

That  the  reports  of   official    inquiries    which 


Dreyfus  ar.d  the  Shame  of  France.   145 

tended  to  his  acquittal  had  been  improperly 
withheld  from  the  court  that  condemned  him ; 

And  further  that  an  official  report  concern- 
ing attendance  at  the  maneuvers,  the  very 
terms  of  which  showed  that  Dreyfus  could  not 
have  been  the  author  of  the  bordereau,  had  been 
withheld  at  his  trial,  although  it  mightily  tended 
to  establish  his  innocence  of  the  charge  against 
him. 

The  court  found  still  other  evidence  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  had  been  suppressed  at 
the  trial,  and  in  at  least  one  case  (that  of  the 
Panizzardi  telegram)  it  found  that  the  genuine 
telegram  had  been  withheld  and  a  forgery  substi- 
tuted for  it — that  the  genuine  established  Drey- 
fus' innocence,  while  the  forgery  was  testimony 
of  his  g^ilt. 

It  found  that  the  alleged  confession  of  Drey- 
fus was  in  fact  a  passionate  protestation  of  in- 
nocence instead,  and  that  the  parts  of  it  which 
were  interpreted  by  the  court-martial  as  an  ad- 
mission of  guilt  were  so  variously  and  conflict- 
ingly  reported  as  to  be  unworthy  of  belief  or 
even  of  consideration. 

It  declared  upon  documentary  evidence,  to 
quote  its  own  language,  that  "Dreyfus  never 
confessed  nor  could  have  confessed  to  being 
guilty." 


146  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

It  found  that  official  documents  had  been  sup- 
pressed which,  in  the  court's  own  language,  "es- 
tablish that  Dreyfus  had  no  relations,  direct  or 
indirect,  with  any  foreign  power." 

In  brief,  the  highest  court  in  France,  with 
forty-seven  eminent  judges  sitting,  fully  exam- 
ined all  the  testimony  in  this  case,  and  after  an 
exhaustive  consideration  decided  not  only  that 
Dreyfus  was  convicted  without  sufficient  proof 
of  his  guilt,  but  that  the  testimony  itself  proved 
his  innocence. 

Under  the  technicalities  of  procedure  the  court 
could  not  directly  order  the  man's  release  and 
restoration  to  his  former  status  in  the  army.  It 
could  only  order  a  new  trial,  which  it  manifestly 
intended  to  be  nothing  more  than  a  form,  an 
orderly  method  of  undoing  the  mistake  or  the 
crime  of  Dreyfus'  conviction  and  making  such 
reparation  as  was  still  possible  to  the  grievously 
wronged  man.  As  the  National  Review  said  at 
the  time :  "It  will  be  seen  from  reading  the  text 
of  the  decision  that  it  leaves  nothing  to  the  court- 
martial  except  to  make  a  formal  acknowledg- 
ment that  Dreyfus  was  not  the  author  of  the 
bordereau,  and  therefore  not  the  betrayer  of  the 
documents  mentioned  therein." 

The  court-martial  at  Rennes  utterly  and  even 
insolently  disregarded  the  intent  of  the  Court 


MAJOR  ESTERHAZY 

He  has  repeatedly  confessed  that  he  wrote  the  Dreyfus  bor- 
dereau, and  the  Supreme  Court  of  France  decided  that  he  did  write 
it.  The  Rennes  court-martial,  nevertheless,  condemns  Dreyfus 
for  the  crime  which  Esterhazy  confesses.  Believed  to  have  been  the 
go-between  of  the  traitors  on  the  French  general  staff. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  149 

of  Cassation.  It  held  a  totally  new  trial.  It  fol- 
lowed the  example  of  its  predecessor  in  exclud- 
ing the  most  vital  evidence,  official  and  other, 
and  in  admitting  the  testimony  of  men  who  had 
nothing  but  hearsay  to  report,  opinions  to  ex- 
ploit and  malignity  to  vent.  Even  with  such 
unfairness  governing  the  court's  procedure  no 
proof  of  the  accused  man's  guilt  was  presented, 
while  the  proofs  of  his  innocence  were  so  con- 
clusive as  to  convince  every  honest  mind. 

Nevertheless  this  shoulder-strapped  tribunal 
contemptuously  overruled  the  Court  of  Cassa- 
tion, set  all  the  laws  of  evidence  at  defiance  and 
declared  Dreyfus  guilty  upon  testimony  that 
clearly  proves  his  innocence. 

MEN  WHO  JUDGED  DREYFUS. 

The  members  of  the  second  court  before 
which  Dreyfus  appeared  are: 

COLONEL  JOUAUST,  director  in  the  en- 
gineer corps,  president. 

LIEUTENANT  COLONEL  BRONGNI- 
ART,  director  of  the  School  of  Artillery. 

MAJOR  DE  BREON  of  the  Seventh  Regi- 
ment of  Artillery. 

MAJOR  PROFILLET  of  the  Tenth  Regi- 
ment of  Artillery. 


150  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

MAJOR  MERLE  of  the  Seventh  Regiment 
of  Artillery, 

CAPTAIN  PARFAIT  of  the  Seventh  Regi- 
ment of  Artillery. 

CAPTAIN  BEAUVAIS  of  the  Seventh  Regi- 
ment of  Artillery. 

OPINION   OF  A   NOTED   JEWISH 
WRITER. 

Of  the  second  condemnation  Israel  Zangwill 
wrote : 

The  most  important  part  of  the  Dreyfus  trial 
was  doubtless  that  which  was  within  closed 
doors.  It  seems  to  me  a  tug  of  war  between  the 
army  and  the  government,  and  the  army  has  for 
the  moment  gained  the  upper  hand. 

I  have  always  maintained  that  it  was  not 
Dreyfus  who  was  on  trial,  but  France,  and  there- 
fore it  is  France  against  whom  the  verdict  of 
guilty  has  been  returned. 

IN  PERIL  AS  A  NATION. 

By  this  burlesque  of  justice,  this  glossing  over 
of  all  suspicious  facts  against  the  generals  and 
this  obstinate  ignoring  of  all  the  series  of  mur- 
der, suicides  and  attempted  assassinations;  this 
ridiculous  assumption  that  behind  all  this  smoke 
there  was  not  one  spark  of  fire,  France — if  she 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  Frauce.   151 

allows  herself  to  be  represented  by  this  military 
crew — has  abdicated  as  a  center  of  light  among 
nations,  if  even  she  has  not  ceased  to  exist  alto- 
gether as  a  nation,  for  procuring  mutual  justice 
is  the  first  reason  why  men  band  themselves  in 
groups  and  nations. 

It  is  horrible  to  think  of  what  the  prophets 
and  poets  of  France  have  dreamed  for  her  and 
then  to  witness  this  national  shipwreck.  You 
will  find  Victor  Hugo  and  Zola  speaking  of 
Paris  much  as  the  old  Hebrew  prophets  spoke  of 
Jerusalem  as  the  place  from  which  the  law 
should  go  forth  to  the  nations.  Now  I  suppose 
Zola  will  again  be  in  danger  of  his  life  and  lib- 
erty, much  as  Jeremiah  was  in  old  Jerusalem 
just  before  its  destruction. 

VICTIM  OF  CONSPIRACY. 

Those  who  may  be  inclined  to  think  that  two 
courts-martial  cannot  be  mistaken  must  remem- 
ber that  the  two  trials  are  not  independent  of 
each  other,  for,  if  Dreyfus  was  a  victim  of  con- 
spiracy in  one  instance,  then  the  conspirators 
were  ex  hypothesi,  such  desperate  scoundrels 
that  they  may  be  trusted  to  have  done  anything 
to  save  their  skins  when  threatened  with  discov- 
ery. 

There  can  be  no  extenuating  circumstances. 


152  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

They  probably  represent  the  guihy  consciences 
or  the  apprehensions  of  the  enemy.  In  short, 
this  compromise  only  compromises  the  prosecu- 
tion.   Dreyfus  and  his  friends  will  not  accept  it. 

NEEDS  NEW  MAGNA  CHARTA. 

Yes,  no  doubt  Dreyfus  will  continue  his  fight 
for  justice,  although  everyone  must  have  a  per- 
sonal grudge  against  France  for  simply  taking 
up  so  much  of  the  world's  time,  for  we  are  all 
sick  to  death  of  the  aflfair. 

People  say:  "Well,  after  all,  it  is  only  one 
man's  life."  But  it  is  not  one  man's  life  that  is 
at  stake.  It  is  the  life  of  a  great  nation.  In 
this  return  to  mediaeval  barbarism  what  French- 
man can  say  that  he  is  safe?  France  needs  a 
new  magna  charta. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  153 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

TWO  REMARKABLE  CHARACTERS  OF 
THE  TRIAL. 


ESTERHAZY. 

The  part  played  by  Esterhazy  in  the  entire 
drama  is  almost  unparalleled.  Though  born  of 
French  parents,  he  was  brought  up  in  Austria, 
and  was  educated  at  an  Austrian  military  school. 
He  became  a  cavalry  officer  in  the  Austrian 
service,  and  took  part  in  the  campaign 
of  1866  in  Italy.  Quitting  the  Austrian 
army,  he  was  admitted  as  sub-lieutenant  into  the 
Legion  of  Antibes  in  the  Papal  Zouaves,  and 
fought  in  the  battle  of  Mentana.  He  then  came 
to  France,  and,  through  the  influence  of  his  un- 
cle, a  general  of  division,  was  made  an  officer  of 
the  French  Foreign  Legion.  He  was  in  active 
service  during  the  war  of  1870-71  in  the  Army 
of  the  Loire,  and  afterwards  a  lieutenant  in  an 
infantry  regiment.    He  has  always  been  erratic 


154  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

in  his  habits.  M.  Grenier,  son  of  General 
Grenier,  who  has  given  a  sketch  of  Esterhazy's 
Hfe,  excuses  his  eccentricities  on  the  ground  of 
hereditary  disease.  At  one  time  he  talked  con- 
tinually of  letters  he  had  written  to  a  lady  four- 
teen years  before;  at  another  time  he  gives  ex- 
pression to  feelings  of  hatred  against  the  French 
army.  He  spent  several  fortunes  and  misappro- 
priated his  wife's  dowry.  In  connection  with 
a  duel  in  which  he  acted  as  second  he  gave  ad- 
vice which  proved  fatal  to  one  of  the  combat- 
ants. The  war  minister,  General  Billot,  though 
he  must  have  known  something  about  Ester- 
hazy's shady  reputation,  appears  to  have  made 
use  of  an  individual  whom  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
describe  as  a  "bandit."  In  order  to  protect  Es- 
terhazy,  a  letter  was  sent  by  Du  Paty  de  Clam, 
after  consultation  with  Gonse  and  Henry,  and  a 
rendezvous  took  place  in  front  of  the  Pare  de 
Montsouris,  at  which  Du  Paty  de  Clam  appeared 
with  a  false  beard,  Gribelin  with  blue  spectacles, 
and  Henry  seated  in  a  carriage  where  he  was 
partly  concealed  from  view. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  discuss  here  the  relations 
of  Esterhazy  to  Mile.  Pays,  whose  connection 
with  the  Dreyfus  case  consists  chiefly  of  certain 
revelations  made  as  to  the  authorship  of  docu- 
ments in  moments  of  "feminine  volubility."    Not 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   155 

merely  forgery,  but  the  surreptitious  removal  of 
official  papers  can  be  laid  at  this  man's  door. 


THE  REAL  TRAITOR. 

Mr.  Northrop  had  the  following  remarkable 
interview  with  him  for  "Black  and  White": 

A  Judas,  a  confessed  traitor,  a  mercenary,  the 
tool  of  the  general  staff  of  France,  the  real  cul- 
prit of  the  Dreyfus  affaire,  the  deep-dyed  villain 
for  whom  an  honorable  soldier  has  suffered 
years  of  martyrdom ;  these  are  the  unpleasant 
epithets  with  which  most  men  sum  up  their  con- 
ception of  one  Marie  Charles  Ferdinand  Ester- 
hazy,  erstwhile  major  in  the  French  army,  now, 
exile  and  refugee. 

As  the  searchlight  of  the  Rennes  trial  pene- 
trates deeper  and  deeper  the  darkness  surround- 
ing this  terrible  affaire,  it  brings  into  clear  vision 
two  very  evident  facts.  First,  the  absolute  in- 
nocence of  Captain  Dreyfus  on  the  evidence; 
secondly,  the  guilt  of  Esterhazy,  judged  by  the 
same  standards. 

Jesuitical  distinction  admits  of  a  variety  of  de- 
grees of  culpability ;  and  it  is  not  going  too  far  to 
say  that  a  Jesuitical  distinction  is  at  the  bottom 
of  the  Dreyfus  affaire. 

"Morally,"  said   Major  Esterhazy  to  me,  in 


156  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

discussing  the  affaire,  when  I  recently  called  on 
him  at  his  rooms,  40  Upper  Gloucester  place, 
Dorset  Square,  "morally,  Captain  Dreyfus  was 
guilty  of  treason ;  but,  legally,  substantially,  no. 
When  the  French  general  staff  became  con- 
vinced of  the  moral  guilt  of  Dreyfus,  it  was 
necessary  to  find  proof  in  substance  of  this  moral 
guilt.  That  was  the  task  imposed  upon  me.  By 
the  express  orders  of  Colonel  Sandherr  I  wrote 
the  bordereau.  My  object  in  writing  the  bor- 
dereau was  to  furnish  the  material  proof  which 
was  required  in  order  to  form  the  basis  on  which 
rested  the  moral  evidence.  It  was  with  an  ob- 
ject such  as  this  that  Colonel  Henry  also  pre- 
pared his  documents." 

"Then,  as  I  understand  it,"  was  my  next  ques- 
tion to  the  major,  "you  did  nothing  without  the 
express  orders  of  your  superiors?" 

"That  is  my  position  exactly,"  was  the  re- 
sponse, "and  I  have  ample  proof  to  substantiate 
this  position.  Now,  during  the  trial,  I  shall 
maintain  silence  on  the  true  inwardness  of  these 
points,"  continued  Major  Esterhazy;  "but,  so 
soon  as  the  Rennes  court-martial  shall  be  over, 
the  French  general  staff  and  the  world  shall  hear 
from_me.  To-day,  I  am  cast  out,  abandoned, 
made  the  scapegoat.  Last  year  it  was  not  so. 
The  generals,  whom  I  have    faithfully    served. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   157 

have  turned  against  me.  My  turn  shall  come 
when  the  Rennes  trial  is  finished, 

"They  are  trying  to  maintain  that  it  was  not  I 
who  wrote  the  bordereau.  But  look,  I  will  show 
you." 

From  his  writing  table  he  selected  a  piece  of 
paper,  and,  placing  beside  it  a  facsimile  of  the 
famous  bordereau,  began  writing  in  a  free,  easy, 
flowing  hand  the  opening  sentences.  I  watched 
him  as  he  wrote.  There  seemed  little  attempt 
to  make  an  exact  copy.    There  was  no  tracing. 

Yet  the  two  writings,  on  comparison,  were  al- 
most identical,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two 
letters,  to  which  differences  Esterhazy  himself 
called  attention. 

"The  'M'  is  somewhat  different.  But  I  have 
four  ways  of  writing  'M,'  "  he  said,  "and  the 
small  'j'  differs  a  little.  But,  you  must  know, 
my  handwriting  is  extremely  irregular." 

He  then  illustrated  his  different  methods  of 
writing  "M."  One  of  the  characters  was  the 
German  capital  letter. 

Pasting  a  facsimile  of  the  bordereau  on  a 
sheet  of  thick  white  paper,  through  which  it 
would  be  most  difficult  to  trace,  I  requested 
Major  Esterhazy  to  copy  a  number  of  lines  of  the 
bordereau  on  the  remaining  portion  of  the  sheet. 
He  did  so.    With  half  an  eye  one  may  see  that 


158  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

the  handwritings  are  identical.  The  copy  of  the 
bordereau  written  by  Esterhazy  is  reproduced 
herewith.  It  was  done  for  me  without  apparent 
motive  or  vulgar  "consideration" — merely  to 
satisfy  my  curiosity. 

This  spontaneous  demonstration  on  the  part 
of  Esterhazy  proves  him  to  be  either  the  author 
of  the  bordereau,  or  the  most  accomplished 
forger  of  the  century.  Comparing  his  handwrit- 
ing prior  to  1894  to  his  present  calligraphy,  and 
both  with  the  bordereau,  the  first  hypothesis 
only  is  acceptable.  This  without  any  Bertillonic 
attempt  to  make  square  ends  fit  round  holes. 

"Acknowledging  yourself,  then,  the  author  of 
the  bordereau,"  said  I,  "would  it  not  have  been 
better  policy  for  you  to  remain  on  friendly  terms 
with  the  generals?  Was  it  not  imprudent  to 
confess  writing  the  document?" 

"I  confessed  because  I  was  angered  at  certain 
of  the  generals ;  they  have  deserted  me.  But  of 
this  I  will  not  now  speak.  It  will  all  be  in  the 
book  which  I  intend  publishing  before  very 
long.  Then  will  it  be  shown  who  is  guilty.  I 
will  print  in  the  book  all  the  photographs  and  all 
my  proofs.  I  shall  demonstrate  clearly  the  en- 
tire Dreyfus  case.  Perhaps  I  shall  go  to  America 
to  lecture,  and  the  whole  world  shall  know  the 
inmost  truth  of  the  matter.    At  present  everyone 


MAITRE  DEMANGE 

The  eminent  advocate  who  defended  Dreyfus  at  both  his  trials  and 
whose  eloquent  plea  won  general  applause. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  i6i 

seems  to  be  in  the  dark.  Statements  of  the  most 
absurd  character  are  being  circulated." 

"It  is  said  that  you  are  the  author  of  the  petit 
bleu?" 

"I  am  not,"  responded  Major  Esterhazy  em- 
phatically. "The  author  of  the  petit  bleu  was 
the  spy,  Lemercier-Picard." 

"Have  any  attempts  been  made  on  your  life 
in  order  to  get  you  out  of  the  way  ?" 

"Yes,  twice;  but  whether  instigated  by  the 
generals  or  no  I  will  not  say.  In  Rotterdam, 
when  I  was  walking  by  the  canal  one  day,  a 
crowd  of  four  or  five  hundred  people  made  a 
demonstration  at  me,  as  if  to  throw  me  into  the 
water.  I  drew  my  knife — this  one  here,"  he  said, 
showing  me  a  dagger  which  rested,  along  with 
a  pistol,  in  a  dish  on  his  table — "and,  seizing  one 
man  from  the  crowd,  told  the  mad  people  that 
if  they  approached  I  would  kill  the  man  I  had 
seized.  My  hostage  pleaded  pitifully  for  his  life. 
When  I  had  returned  to  a  safer  part  of  the  town 
I  released  my  unwilling  prisoner. 

"On  another  occasion,  while  dining  with  a 
lady  friend  in  the  same  city,  I  received  a  box. 
I  opened  it  in  the  lunch  room.  There  was  an  ex- 
plosion. Fortunately — or  unfortunately  for  my 
enemies — I  remained  unhurt. 

"But  I  am  not  afraid.    It  is  not  in  my  nature 


1 62  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

to  fear  anyone.  I  do  not  go  armed  here  in 
London,  because  I  know  the  English  people  are 
not  cowards.  I  have  been  in  all  parts  of  the 
city,  and,  though  many  times  recognized,  no  one 
has  offered  me  injury  or  insult. 

"Yes,  perhaps  the  fact  of  my  being  alive  is 
very  annoying  to  many  in  France,"  he  added 
naively.  "They  say  that  I  shall  soon  put  an  end 
to  my  existence,  that  my  manner  of  living  is  ex- 
travagant, and  that  when  I  can  no  longer  follow 
it  I  shall  suicide.    But,  you  see,  I  still  live." 

The  major  smiled  grimly,  and  coughed  with 
some  violence.    He  seems  in  the  poorest  health. 

"Do  you  intend  returning  to  France  at  any 
time?" 

"No;  to  return  to  France  would  mean  im- 
mediate imprisonment.  To  be  in  prison  would 
be  the  same  as  to  be  dead — like  Henry.  Now  I 
am  free.  I  can  write  and  speak  freely,  and  show 
the  world  the  truth  of  all  these  mysterious  mat- 
ters.   I  can  have  these  proofs  published." 

He  showed  me  a  number  of  photographic 
plates  on  which,  he  said,  were  orders  from  men 
"in  high  places"  commanding  him  to  "arrange" 
(i.  e.,  doctor)  certain  documents  and  invent 
others.  If  his  proofs  are  genuine,  it  seems  that 
when  the  time  comes — though  why  it  should  not 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  163 

be  now  I  cannot  understand — he  will  have  some- 
thing startling  to  say. 

One  of  the  orders  which  he  had  photographed 
was  from  Du  Paty  de  Clam.  Esterhazy  smiled 
when  he  came  to  this  plate 

"Du  Paty  says  that  he  is  ill,  and  has  doctors 
to  prove  it.  I  know  that  he  is  very  well.  I  know 
that  he  is  kept  away  from  the  Rennes  trial  pur- 
posely. It  is  true  he  is  in  bed ;  but"  [here  he 
shrugged  his  shoulders  significantly]  "any  man 
can  go  to  bed.  I  am  to-day  more  ill  than  Du 
Paty." 

The  personality  of  Major  Esterhazy  is  a  strik- 
ing one.  Tall  and  broad-shouldered,  his  bearing 
would  be  military  were  it  not  for  the  stoop  in  his 
shoulders,  which  gives  him  somewhat  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  consumptive.  His  hands  are  long, 
the  fingers  being  well  shaped  and  very  slender. 
With  the  features  of  Major  Esterhazy  most  are 
familiar  through  photographs  which  have  ap- 
peared of  him.  The  common  photograph  of  Es- 
terhazy shows  him  in  a  military  kepi  and  wear- 
ing a  long,  full  mustache.  At  present  he  wears 
dark  side  whiskers  as  well  as  a  mustache.  His 
face  is  much  fuller  than  it  is  usually  depicted. 
The  eyes  are  brown  and  somewhat  protruding. 
The  nose  is  Jewish.  A  firm  chin  imparts  a  very 
determined  expression  to  the  face. 


1 64  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

Major  Esterhazy  lives  in  the  "drawing-rooms" 
of  a  typical  London  "apartment  house"  of  the 
Bloomsbury  pattern.  Possibly  the  most  con- 
spicuous object  in  the  room  is  the  fruit  dish,  in 
which  are  ostentatiously  displayed  the  knife  and 
pistol  already  mentioned.  They  are  held  in  a 
belt,  which  the  major  doubtless  wears  when  an- 
ticipating a  visit  from  the  assassin  commissioned 
by  certain  French  generals  to  remove  him  be- 
fore he  can  publish  his  damning  revelations. 
Whether  Esterhazy  knows  all  he  claims  to 
know;  whether  he  holds  in  his  hands  the  proof 
of  the  French  generals'  perfidy ;  whether  he 
acted  as  a  mere  automaton  to  carry  out  question- 
able and  criminal  orders,  the  fact  remains  that 
he  is  the  only  man  living  who  can  throw  any 
light  on  some  of  the  blackest  episodes  of  the 
Dreyfus  affaire. 

MAITRE  LABORI. 

Notwithstanding  the  many  witnesses  of  the 
attempted  assassination  of  Labori,  not  to  men- 
tion those  who  saw  his  wound,  the  enemies  of 
Dreyfus  asserted  publicly  and  through  their 
newspapers  that  no  such  thing  had  taken  place, 
and  that  he  had  not  been  wounded.  They 
claimed  that  the  supposed  attack  by  a  supposed 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   165 

assassin  was  merely  a  trick  to  gain  sympathy  for 
the  accused. 

To  counteract  this,  not  only  was  the  testimony 
of  witnesses  and  attending  physicians  given,  but 
photographs  of  the  wound  were  taken.  One  of 
these  was  a  radiograph  by  the  X  rays  of  Pro- 
fessor Roentgen.  Against  the  evidence  of  this 
authenticated  photograph,  the  conscienceless 
enemy  was  compelled  to  become  silent. 

Fortunately,  although  the  assassin's  bullet 
passed  within  a  hair's  breadth  of  the  spinal 
column,  Maitre  Labori  escaped  with  his  life.  He 
returned  to  the  court  on  August  22d,  and  after  a 
most  brilliant  cross-examination  of  General  Mer- 
cier,  incidentally  revealed  to  the  court  the  first 
cause  of  his  belief  in  Dreyfus'  innocence.  A 
fortnight  after  the  degradation  of  Captain  Drey- 
fus, the  Maitre  was  present  at  a  dinner  in  which 
Colonel  Bertin,  his  old  friend,  took  part.  In  the 
course  of  the  dinner  Colonel  Bertin  became 
rather  excited  in  talking  about  Dreyfus,  and 
when  Maitre  Labori  spoke  about  Maitre  De- 
mange's  belief  in  the  innocence  of  Dreyfus,  the 
colonel  cried :  "Demange,  don't  mention  him. 
He  is  counsel  for  the  German  embassy!" — also 
that  Demange  had  defended  other  spies,  and  that 
he  was  officially  appointed  to  do  so.  Maitre  La- 
bori then  explained  to  the  court  that  Colonel 


i66  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

Berlin's  remarks  opened  his  eyes.  He  began 
to  wonder  what  security  there  was  in  an  oath,  or 
in  the  judgment  of  men  who  could  so  readily  be- 
lieve things  which  were  so  ridiculous.  From  that 
day  he  began  to  believe  in  the  innocence  of  Cap- 
tain Dreyfus. 

And  from  that  day  the  honest  Maitre  fought 
for  Dreyfus  with  a  fervor  and  ability  that  won 
the  admiration  of  everybody.  No  one  who  has 
seen  even  a  photograph  of  his  face  can  fail  to  be 
struck  by  the  frankness  and  straightforwardness 
of  his  expression.  He  is  for  the  truth,  at  what- 
ever cost ;  and  yet  he  never  set  up  to  be  a  saintly 
martyr,  even  when  the  bullet  of  the  assassin  had 
laid  him  low.  Jolly  French  good-humor  bubbles 
out  of  his  eyes,  and  sends  perpetual  merriment 
into  the  souls  of  his  friends.  Then  as  to  his  skill 
in  cross-examination  and  ready  repartee,  ask  the 
general  staff !  How  many  unpleasant  hours  and 
spoilt  dinners  must  they  have  to  put  down  to 
Maitre  Labori's  telling  questions !  No  military 
reserve  could  hold  out  against  his  penetrating 
insight.  Silence  becomes  in  his  hands  a  speak- 
ing witness,  and  reserve  an  expressive  sulkiness. 
No  wonder  then  that  the  defense  in  especial  wel- 
comed his  return,  knowing  him  to  be  such  a 
tower  of  strength. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  167 

LABORFS  RETURN. 

In  the  crowded  court  room  word  passed  about 
that  Labori  was  expected.  Even  in  the  full  gal- 
lop of  French  conversation  eyes  perpetually 
shifted  toward  the  door.  And  suddenly,  in  a 
second,  everybody  knew  that  he  was  there. 
There  moved  in  the  great  figure  in  the  white 
edged  black  gown,  and  the  little  black  advocate's 
bonnet  clinging  dandily  to  the  side  of  his  head, 
like  a  soldier's,  with  the  big,  eager  face  and  the 
shock  of  unruly  brown  hair. 

He  came  in  alert  and  eager,  conscious,  like  all 
orators,  of  the  effect  he  made,  frankly  delight- 
ing in  it — a  spirit  half  electricity  and  half  sun- 
shine. Officers  and  sight-seers  and  journalists 
alike  leaped  up  and  clapped.  He  moved  toward 
his  place  breast-deep  in  hand  shakes.  General 
Mercier  got  up  from  his  seat,  walked  over  and 
shook  his  hand.  Awhile  the  two  stood  bowing, 
smiling,  talking  easily — the  two  champions  in 
the  mortal  fight  for  a  man's  life  and  the  domin- 
ion of  France — each  accuser  and  each  accused — 
each  well  knowing  that  the  victory  he  is  striving 
after  is  the  utter  downfall  of  the  other.  But  for 
those  unaffected  minutes  Labori  and  Mercier 
were  nothing  but  two  honest  men  and  gentle- 
men.   France  may  have  lost  much    that   was 


1 68  Dreyfus  and  tlie  Shame  of  France. 

great  during  these  years  of  action,  but  there  still 
remains  French  courtesy. 

"Presentez  a-r-rmes!  The  rifles  clatter;  the 
court  enters,  salutes,  takes  its  seat.  Then  the 
president — he,  too,  a  model  of  suave  and  sincere 
courtesy — expresses  the  sympathy  of  the 
judges,  congratulates  the  lawyer  on  his  escape. 
He  rises  to  reply. 

"Do  not  tire  yourself,"  says  the  colonel ;  but 
you  might  as  well  try  to  stop  the  earth  in  its 
orbit  as  the  natural  orator  when  his  feelings 
are  aflow. 

He  rises — his  huge  figure  just  a  little  bent, 
his  color  the  flush  of  fever  rather  than  of  health, 
his  voice  retaining  the  warmth  and  music  of  its 
old  tones,  but  without  the  fire  and  ringing  steel 
. — and  out  it  pours.  The  words  rush  out  in  a 
stream,  yet,  despite  the  softness  of  the  utterance, 
their  articulation  is  such  that  from  the  back  of 
the  hall  you  hear  almost  every  one.  He  speaks 
of  the  cruelty  of  the  blow  that  struck  him 
down  at  the  moment  of  realizing  his  two  years' 
dream  of  pleading  this  case  in  all  its  amplitude 
before  a  military  tribunal — of  his  sorrow  then 
and  his  joy  to-day ;  he  thanks  first  the  court  and 
then  everybody,  known  and  unknown,  friend  and 
foe,  who  have  expressed  sympathy  with  him; 
gives  all  to  know  that  he  has  come  back  to  fight 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   169 

and  win;  and  concludes  melodiously  that  the 
part  of  error  in  human  affairs  is  always  greater 
than  the  part  of  bad  faith. 

In  an  Englishman  it  would  have  disgusted ;  in 
a  common  Frenchman  it  would  have  moved  a 
kindly  smile;  in  Labori  it  touched  and  stirred 
and  thrilled.  Here,  at  last,  was  an  orator. 
Whether  he  meant  it  all  or  not — and  for  my  part 
I  make  no  doubt  he  did — mattered  nothing  to 
the  oratory;  the  rest  of  us,  whatever  we  felt, 
could  not  have  seemed  to  feel  it  as  he.  A  true 
orator — an  actor  with  brains. 

His  gestures,  instead  of  following  his  words 
as  a  clumsy  speaker's  do,  moved  with  them  on 
the  same  impulse,  spontaneous,  unconscious,  the 
outward  index  of  the  spirit.  His  voice  swayed 
and  swung,  paused  and  hastened,  glided  over 
this,  hurled  itself  on  that,  till  it  became  an  auto- 
matic commentary  on  his  words  and  played  on 
the  hearts  of  men  as  a  master  plays  on  an  or- 
gan. It  was  not  a  man  saying  words;  it  was 
thought,  feeling  and  purpose  coming  out  into 
words  by  themselves,  and  coming  out  in  per- 
fect harmony  with  each  other.  It  was  not  a 
speech,  but  the  revelation  of  a  soul. 

The  witnesses  came  in  and  began  to  tell  their 
uninteresting  stories.  But  before  the  second  had 
stood  down  the  air  was  suddenly  quivering  with 


170  Drcyfas  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

ctMnboL  Labori  was  now  fighting,  and  in  a 
twinkk  the  whole  aspect  of  the  case  was 
dmi^^ed.  Few  twelve  days  the  generals  had  been 
pooderoo^  attacking;  an  hour  of  Labori  and 
they  were  suddenly  on  their  defense.  As  the 
witness  enters  and  begins  his  tale  the  advocate 
is  lying  rather  than  sitting  in  the  arm-chair  they 
have  givei  him,  one  of  the  lowest  heads  in  court, 
instead  of  the  highest,  as  he  had  been  the  first 
day;  his  whole  aspect  spells  lassitude. 

The  witness  goes  on;  he  slowly  sits  op  and 
aoocfaes  his  head  close  over  the  table,  like  a 
lioa  watdnng  his  prey.  The  witness  finishes; 
slowlj,  skmbf  the  great  form  upheaves  itself, 
bent  neariy  double  over  the  table.  His  ttim  to 
question  is  just  coming;  he  raises  himself  erect 
and  towers. 

And  Aen  he  qwings.  His  voice  is  gentle,  rea- 
sonably persoasire,  but  he  swoops  on  the  vital 
part. 

Did  Major  Rolhn  translate  the  Schneider 
forgery?  No.  That  question  should  be  gone 
into  with  closed  doors,  sajrs  the  commissary  of 
Ac  government,  and  like  a  flash  comes  Labori's 
pany.  It  was  General  Mercier,  not  he,  who  in- 
trodnced  Ccdond  Schneider's  name  and  letter; 
then,  none  contradicting  him,  he  goes  on  his 
way.    Can  Major  Rollin  tell  him  whom  he  is  to 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   173 

question  about  the  translation?  No.  Then 
what  is  the  worth  of  documents  which  we  cannot 
see,  which  we  may  not  discuss,  for  which  it  is 
impossible  to  know  who  is  responsible? 

A  second  to  feel  the  blow,  but  not  to  recover 
from  it,  and  then — gently,  persuasively — how 
did  General  Mercier  come  by  his  copy  of  this 
document?    General  Mercier  will  not  reply. 

"Mr.  President,  I  insist!"  says  Labori. 

The  generals  gasp ;  here,  suddenly,  is  a  man 
who  insists.  "I  allow  myself  to  insist" — the  gen- 
tle voice  is  rising — "that  questions  put  very  re- 
spectfully and  with  great  prudence  shall  be  an- 
swered. We  want  complete  light.  I  insist" — 
the  voice  has  swollen  to  a  roar — "I  insist  upon 
General  Mercier  answering,  for  I  have  a  right  to 
an  answer." 

Stupefaction;  no  help  from  the  court;  no 
prompting  from  friends;  General  Mercier  takes 
the  responsibility.  It  is  a  heavy  one.  Then, 
swiftly,  mercilessly: — "I  ask  by  what  right  Gen- 
eral Mercier  has  in  his  possession  all  the  secret 
documents?"    No  answer. 

"I  insist!" 

"But  General  Mercier  will  not  answer,"  says 
the  president. 

"But  the  law!"  thunders  Labori.  "There  is  a 
law  on  espionage!    When  this  document  came 


174  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

into  the  bureau  General  Mercier  was  no  longer 
minister.     It  is  a  crime!" 

Five  minutes  of  time — a  score  of  sentences 
sharp  as  rapiers,  crushing  as  sledge  hammers — 
and  the  Dreyfus  case  is  turned  clean  round.  Five 
minutes  ago  Mercier  was  the  accuser.  Now  he 
sits  silent,  the  accused — accused  under  that  very 
law  on  espionage  which  he  was  pressing  against 
Dreyfus.  The  advocate  has  made  no  change  in 
the  evidence,  but  he  has  put  the  other  side  in  the 
wrong. 

Henceforth  there  is  only  one  man  in  the  room, 
but  he  fills  it — the  man  who  insists.  The  spec- 
tators watch  him  and  hold  their  breath  when 
he  rises  to  speak.  The  court  sits  and  listens  to 
his  smashing  blows  in  silence,  as  if  he  were  an 
uncontrollable  force  of  nature.  The  prosecutor 
sits  paralyzed.  The  generals  lay  their  heads  to- 
gether. The  witnesses  give  evidence  with  one 
eye  on  the  court  and  the  other  on  the  cross  ex- 
aminer. The  very  gendarmes  wake  and  follow 
the  trial.  The  very  soldiers  of  the  guard  outside 
bunch  together,  creep  nearer  and  peer  into  the 
hall  at  the  man  who  insists. 

The  Dreyfus  case  was  Labori.  He  had  all 
the  doggedness  of  Mercier,  the  subtlety  of 
Roget,  the  clearness  of  Picquart,  the  passion  of 
Dreyfus  himself. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   175 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

IN  AND  ABOUT  RENNES. 

Somewhat  out  of  the  direct  path  of  the  tourist, 
but  within  easy  access  of  Dinard  and  St.  Servan, 
Hes  Rennes,  that  handsome  episcopal  city  of 
some  70,000  inhabitants  where  the  second  Drey- 
fus court-martial  is  now  being  held.  The  place 
seems  well  adapted  for  such  a  purpose.  The 
headquarters  of  the  Tenth  army  corps,  yet  iso- 
lated from  any  great  industrial  center,  and  far 
removed  from  Paris,  Rennes  would  not  easily 
lend  itself  to  any  stupendous  outburst  of  national 
feeling.  Priests  and  churches  are  numerous  in 
Rennes,  and  the  lawyers  fairly  bristle  there,  but 
in  spite  of  the  many  prosperous-looking  shops  to 
be  seen  in  every  turn,  trade — so  the  inhabitants 
are  fond  of  assuring  a  stranger — is  at  a  low  ebb. 
There  is  certainly  very  little  outlet  for  industrial 
labor.  The  arsenal  gives  employment  to  many, 
and  there  are  various  other  industries,  but  with 
the  exception  of  a  large  publishing  and  book- 
binding firm  these  latter  are  insignificant. 

The  line  to  Rennes  runs  through  one  of  the 


176  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

most  luxuriously  wooded  parts  of  Brittany. 
Trees  in  tens  of  thousands,  bowing  under  their 
weight  of  rich  foliage,  hedge  the  glowing  fields, 
throw  long,  interlacing  branches  over  the 
streams,  overshadow  the  peaceful  roads  and 
lanes,  and  run  riot  through  many  a  picturesque 
homestead  and  radiant  farmhouse  garden.  Sud- 
denly there  comes  a  break  amidst  the  trees,  and 
a  fair  green  plain  unfolds  itself  to  the  view — and 
soon  imposing  buildings,  in  somewhat  scattered 
profusion,  proclaim  arrival  at  Rennes.  The  train 
makes  a  wide  detour  before  reaching  the  railway 
station,  and  as  the  roofs,  domes,  spires  and  tow- 
ers of  this  stately,  clean,  uncrowded  city  pass  in 
pleasant  review  before  the  eye — the  colossal  gilt 
angel,  situated  in  close  proximity  to  the  cardinal 
archbishop's  palace,  spreading  wide  wings  to  the 
sky — it  is  impossible  to  behold  without  admir- 
ing. A  Scot  will  probably  see  a  resemblance  to 
Edinburgh.  The  cathedral  is  in  the  Pantheon 
style,  and  has  two  conspicuous  towers.  The 
Palais  de  Justice  is  a  fairly  handsome  building, 
but  more  remarkable  for  its  collection  of  paint- 
ings and  carved  work  than  for  any  architectural 
beauty. 

The  railway  station  is  a  large  one,  and  just 
outside  its  gates  several  wide  boulevards  merge 
into  a  place  of  quite  large  enough  dimensions 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   177 

for  the  assemblage  of  a  dangerous  rabble.  To 
this  point  the  various  electric  tramways  which 
intersect  the  city  converge.  This  electric  tram- 
car  system  was  completed  two  years  ago,  and 
for  many  months  was  a  source  of  enormous  in- 
terest to  the  inhabitants.  There  have  been 
serious  accidents  with  these  cars,  and  it  would 
be  astonishing  if  the  reverse  were  the  case  con- 
sidering the  extreme  rapidity  at  which  they  are 
driven. 

But  for  some  time  Rennes  has  renounced  its 
normal  somnolence.  The  erstwhile  peaceful  cafes 
wear  an  unwonted  appearance  of  animation,  and 
low  murmurs  of  tranquil  conversation,  and  the 
peaceful  whistling  of  the  night  wind  through 
overhanging  vines,  have  ceased  to  be  the  only 
interruptions  to  the  mellifluous  music  of  an  at- 
tendant harp  or  violin.  The  eyes  of  Europe  are 
now  concentrated  on  Rennes,  and  her  inhabit- 
ants feel  that  their  native  city  has  for  a  time  at 
least  assumed  that  most  attractive  of  all  qual- 
ities— a  capacity  for  great  possibilities.  But  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  none  will  come — at  least  of 
a  sensational  nature — and  that  if  Rennes  is  fated 
to  make  a  mark  in  the  history  of  her  country  it 
will  be  only  as  the  site  of  the  last,  and,  we  trust, 
happy,  chapter  of  that  strange,  sad  story  which 
has  been  slowly  unfolded  to  the  world. 


178  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France, 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

PARDONING  THE  INNOCENT. 

Soon  after  the  Rennes  verdict  was  known,  it 
was  rumored  that  President  Loubet  would  par- 
don the  prisoner.  This  was  done  September  19 ; 
and,  strange  coincidence!  The  same  newspa- 
pers giving  this  announcement  also  made 
known  the  death  of  M.  Scheuer-Kestner,  presi- 
dent of  the  Senate,  in  1897,  who  lost  reputa- 
tion and  risked  Hfe,  in  the  cause  of  justice  for 
Dreyfus. 

When  Dreyfus  heard  of  his  friend's  death,  he 
said :  "The  thought  gives  me  infinite  sorrow 
that  I  will  never  be  able  to  see  the  man  who  has 
done  so  much  for  me,  or  to  thank  him  for  his 
noble  interest  in  my  cause." 

The  pardon  proved  what  was  already  quite 
surely  known,  that  the  whole  Rennes  trial  was 
a  play  of  clever  politics  to  save  the  guilty  officers 
of  the  French  army.  Paris  received  the  news 
of  the  pardon  as  it  did  the  news  of  the  verdict, 
with  absolute  calm.    The  sensation  was  one  of 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   179 

relief  in  all  circles.    Even  the  Nationalists  were 
glad  to  have  it  over. 

STILL  DEMANDING  JUSTICE. 

George  Clemenceau  said: 

"While  we  deeply  appreciate  President 
Loubet's  pardon,  we  have  not  given  up  the  bat- 
tle. We  have  always  demanded  justice  for  Drey- 
fus and  still  demand  justice."  M.  Jaures,  the 
Socialist  leader,  spoke  in  the  same  tone.  "We 
will  continue  to  march  in  the  way  of  light  and 
truth.    Justice  must  be  done." 

Maitre  Demange  expressed  his  gratification. 
The  political  aspect  of  the  case  never  entered 
much  into  Demange's  views.  He  has  always 
wanted  to  save  Dreyfus  himself.  "The  greatest 
judicial  error  in  a  century  has  been  repaired," 
said  he.  "I  wish  it  had  been  a  complete  acquit- 
tal at  Rennes.  This  is  good.  I  am  happy 
over  it." 

Emile  Zola  wrote  to  Mme.  Dreyfus  as  follows : 

"Dear  Madame :  Your  husband  and  those  who 
defended  him  have  been  exposed  to  the  vilest  in- 
sults and  even  to  bodily  injury.  For  my  part 
there  are  organs  belonging  to  the  'gutter  press' 
and  men  so  tainted  with  moral  dirt  that  I  have 
struck  them  from  my  life,  from  my  memory. 
For  me  they  are  no  more.    I  have  driven  them 


i8o  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

completely  from  my  thoughts,  as  if  I  never  had 
already  swallowed  them. 

"It  is  such  forgetfulness  of  atrocious  insults 
that  I  recommend  to  the  innocent  man  who  has 
suiTered  the  wrongs.  He  is  so  much  apart,  so 
faf  above  them  all,  that  they  should  not  be  able 
to  reach  him. 

"May  he  come  to  life  again  under  your  care, 
and  under  the  clear  sunshine  of  universal  sym- 
pathy shown  for  him. 

"Peace  be  to  the  martyr  who  has  such  need 
of  repose,  and  around  him  now,  in  retreat,  may 
there  be  nothing  but  love  and  caresses. 

"As  for  us,  madame,  we  shall  continue  the 
fight.  We  shall  to-morrow  go  on  with  the  strug- 
gle for  justice,  just  as  we  pursued  it  yesterday. 
We  shall  exact  rehabilitation  of  the  innocent 
man,  less  for  the  sake  of  him,  who  has  already 
so  much  glory,  than  for  France,  which  would 
assuredly  be  killed  by  this  excess  of  infamy, 

"Our  task  will  be  the  regeneration  of  France 
in  the  eyes  of  the  universe,  which  will  take 
place  when  the  infamous  judgment  has  been 
quashed.  A  great  country  cannot  live  without 
justice,  and  ours  will  remain  in  mourning  just 
as  long  as  the  stain  of  insult  is  leveled  at  the 
highest  jurisdiction  and  the  violation  of  the  most 
primitive  rights  shall  remain. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   i8i 

REPARATION  TO   BE  MADE. 

"The  social  fabric  crumbles  when  the  guar- 
antee of  law  no  longer  exists,  and  there  is  in 
this  violation  of  right  such  an  element  of  in- 
solence, and  bravado  so  impudent,  that  we  can- 
not ignore  it.  We  cannot  bury  a  body  secretly 
without  showing  our  shame  to  our  neighbors. 
The  whole  world  has  seen  and  heard,  and  it  is 
before  the  whole  world  that  reparation  should 
take  place.  To  desire  a  France  without  honor 
is  criminal. 

"Without  doubt  foreigners  will  come  to  our 
exhibition.  They  will  overflow  Paris,  just  as 
numbers  are  attracted  to  a  fair  by  the  sound  of 
music  and  the  fire  of  lamps,  but  should  that 
satisfy  our  pride?  Should  we  not  value  esteem 
as  highly  as  the  money  of  the  outside  world  ? 

"We  shall  exhibit  our  science,  our  art  and  our 
industry.  Should  we  dare  to  exhibit  our  justice 
one  can  imagine  Devil's  Island  reconstructed 
and  exhibited.  For  me  the  shame  of  it  is  intol- 
erable. I  do  not  understand  how  the  exhibition 
can  be  opened  unless  France  takes  her  rank 
among  the  nations.  When  honor  has  been  re- 
stored formally  to  the  condemned  man,  honor 
will  be  restored  to  France — not  before. 

"Allow  me  to'say  in  conclusion,  madamc,  that 
you  may  depend  on  those  who  have  restored  to 


1 82  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

your  husband  his  freedom  to  restore  to  him  his 
honor.  Not  one  of  us  will  give  up  the  fight. 
We  know  well  that  we  fight  for  justice  and  for 
our  country.  The  splendid  brother  of  the  con- 
demned man  will  again  set  the  example  of  cour- 
age, wisdom  and  justice. 

"We  have  not  been  able  all  at  once  to  restore 
your  husband  to  you,  freed  from  lying  accusa- 
tions. We  ask  yet  a  little  patience,  trusting  that 
your  children  will  not  be  much  older  before  their 
name  shall  be  legally  purged  of  all  blemish. 

PITY  FOR  THE  CHILDREN. 

"Poor  children !  I  see  them  again  in  the  arms 
of  their  father.  I  know  with  what  jealous  care, 
by  what  miracle  of  delicacy,  you  have  kept  them 
in  complete  ignorance.  They  believed  their 
father  away  on  a  journey,  and  when  they  became 
inquisitive  at  long  absence,  what  could  you  tell 
them  when  his  innocence  was  as  yet  only  be- 
lieved in  by  one  or  two — your  heart  must  have 
broken ! 

"But  in  these  last  few  weeks,  when  his  inno- 
cence was  palpable  to  all,  I  could  have  wished 
that  you  had  taken  your  two  children  by  the 
hand  and  conducted  them  to  the  prison  in 
Rennes,  that  they  might  have  had  forever  in 
their  minds  the  picture  of  their  father's  heroism. 


m^^ 


'  ^. 


^?*«:£^ 


M.   BERTILLON,    THE    WRITING    EXPERT,     EXPLAIN- 
ING HIS  SYSTEM 

M.  Bertillon  caused  much  amusement  in  Court  by  bringing  with 
him  a  mass  of  papers  and  other  things  to  assist  him  in  his  explana- 
tion of  his  system. 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France,  185 

You  could  have  told  them  all  that  he  had  un- 
justly suffered,  what  moral  grandeur  was  his, 
with  what  tenderness  they  should  love  him  in 
order  to  make  him  forget  iniquitous  men  with 
their  little  souls. 

"They  would  have  benefited  by  this  demon- 
stration of  manly  virtue. 

"It  is  not  now  too  late.  Some  evening,  under 
the  lamp,  and  in  the  peace  of  family,  their  father 
can  take  them  upon  his  knees  and  tell  them  the 
tragic  history.  It  is  necessary  that  they  should 
know,  in  order  that  they  may  respect  and  adore 
him  as  he  deserves.  When  he  has  spoken  they 
will  know  that  there  is  not  in  the  world  a  greater 
hero-martyr,  whose  suffering  has  so  profoundly 
touched  men's  hearts.  They  will  be  proud  of 
him,  and  will  bear  his  name  with  glory  as  the 
name  of  a  very  brave  man,  who  has  borne  him- 
self sublimely  under  the  most  frightful  sufferings 
which  fraud  and  cowardice  could  inflict. 

"The  day  will  come  when  the  son  and  daugh- 
ter, not  of  the  condemned  man,  but  of  his  per- 
secutors, will  have  cause  to  blush.  Accept, 
madame,  my  profoundest  respect. 

"EMILE  ZOLA." 

The  following  public  announcement  was  made 
concerning  the  pardon : 


1 86  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

'The  government  of  the  republic  has  given 
me  my  Hberty.  But  hberty  is  nothing  to  me 
without  honor.  From  to-day  I  shall  continue 
to  seek  reparation  for  the  frightful  judicial  error 
of  which  I  remain  the  victim. 

"I  wish  France  to  know  by  definitive  judg- 
ment that  I  am  innocent.  My  heart  will  only  be 
at  rest  when  there  remains  not  a  single  French- 
man who  imputes  to  me  the  abominable  crime 
perpetrated  by  another. 

"ALFRED  DREYFUS." 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  187 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

DETAILS  OF  THE  LIBERATION. 

The  manner  in  which  Dreyfus  was  given  his 
Hberty  was  cleverly  done.  Mme.  Dreyfus,  warned 
in  advance,  took  a  friend  of  the  family  into  her 
confidence.  This  friend  went  to  a  livery  stable 
and  asked  that  a  carriage  be  placed  at  his  dispo- 
sition at  10  o'clock.  Later,  he  returned  to  the 
stable  and  said  he  did  not  want  the  carriage  until 
3  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  he  indicated  the 
place  where  the  carriage  was  to  meet  him.  At 
the  fixed  hour  the  landau,  which  was  the  same 
which  took  Dreyfus  to  prison  on  the  night  of  his 
arrival,  stopped  near  the  Place  Mairie,  The 
coachman  was  ordered  to  drive  along  the  quays 
of  the  Canal  Vilaine,  and  in  passing,  to  stop  at 
the  Place  Laennec,  where  Labori  staid  before  he 
was  shot,  just  at  the  angle  of  Rue  St.  Helier  and 
the  Boulevard  Laennec.  At  this  spot  a  valet 
made  a  sign  to  the  coachman,  who  drew  the  car- 
riage up  to  the  sidewalk.  It  had  hardly  stopped 
before  two  people  appeared,  one  of  whom  was 
Dreyfus,  well  wrapped  up,  and  his  hat  over  his 


1 88  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

face.  The  other  was  a  member  of  his  family, 
Dreyfus  having  just  slipped  out  of  his  military 
prison. 

LEAVES  RENNES  BEHIND  HIM. 

Both  mounted  the  landau,  the  carriage  made 
a  sharp  turn,  and  the  horses  galloped  away  from 
Rennes  at  full  speed.  As  on  the  night  of  his 
arrival,  the  elements  were  troubled,  and  a  driving 
rain  splashed  on  the  cobblestones  of  Rennes. 
Dreyfus  shivered  as  he  rode  through  the  sharp 
night  air. 

Leaving  Rennes  the  carriage  took  the  route  for 
the  village  of  Vern,  the  first  station  on  the  line 
from  Rennes  to  Chauteaubriand,  on  the  way  to 
Villamarie,  the  home  of  his  sister.  One  reason 
why  Dreyfus  went  to  Villamarie  is  his  great  affec- 
tion for  his  sister,  who  is  twelve  years  older  than 
he.  She  always  was  proud  of  his  accomplish- 
ments, and  instilled  the  precepts  of  integrity  and 
honor  in  his  mind  early  in  life.  The  second  rea- 
son was  the  unusual  sympathy  expressed  by  the 
people  of  this  region.  "Vive  I'Armee"  rarely  is 
heard  about  Carpentras. 

TYPICAL  OF  SOUTHERN  FRANCE. 

Villamarie  is  a  town  typical  of  Southern  France. 
It  is  hundreds   of   years   old,   picturesque,  and 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   189 

sleepy,  and  outside  the  rush  of  the  world.  It  lies 
west  of  the  main  railroad  line  from  Paris  to  Mar- 
seilles. The  nearest  city  is  Avignon,  twenty  miles 
distant,  while  Marseilles  and  the  Mediterranean 
are  within  a  few  hours'  travel. 

All  about  are  other  villages,  with  white  houses 
and  flat  roofs.  Occasionally  the  ruins  of  ancient 
walls  and  fortified  gateways  of  some  old  castles 
are  seen.  The  fields  are  filled  with  vines  and 
olive,  fig  and  lemon  trees.  It  is  the  garden  of 
France, 

Villamarie  is  a  small  estate  of  perhaps  twenty- 
five  acres,  covered  with  trees  and  gardens  of  flow- 
ers. It  is  the  country  place  of  Dreyfus'  sister, 
Mme.  Valabregue,  where  she  usually  spends  the 
summer.  Since  the  condemnation  of  Dreyfus, 
she  has  remained  there  continuously  in  the 
strictest  privacy,  receiving  nobody,  going  no- 
where. The  estate  was  not  even  kept  in  good 
order.  The  gardens  and  lawns  showed  signs  of 
neglect.    All  were  in  mourning  for  Dreyfus. 

Here  Dreyfus  met  his  children,  whom  he  had 
not  seen  for  five  years. 

The  little  ones  came  from  Paris  in  charge  of 
a  relative.  Their  arrival  made  complete  the  happy 
family  reunion. 

It  was  a  charming  picture  that  was  presented 
to  the  privileged  callers.    They  saw  Dreyfus  seat- 


190  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

ed  on  a  large  wicker  chair  in  a  glass  inclosed  shel- 
ter in  front  of  the  house,  his  children  at  his  knees, 
and  Mme.  Dreyfus  by  his  side,  while  gathered 
around  him  were  Mathieu  Dreyfus  and  various 
other  members  of  the  Valabregue  and  Hadamar 
families.  The  autumn  weather  was  mellowed 
by  the  soft  breezes  of  Southern  France.  The 
sun  poured  down  brightest  rays,  that  made  the 
whole  country  radiant  with  natural  beauty.  It 
seemed  to  instill  new  life  into  the  martyr,  and 
added  to  the  emotional  joys  of  the  day.  It  caused 
him  to  exclaim.  "Is  it  true?  It  seems  as  though 
I  were  in  a  dream." 

In  this  ideal  retreat  the  remarkable  romance 
comes  to  an  end.  Stranger,  it  is,  indeed,  than 
fiction,  because  the  whole  story  is  lamentably 
true.  After  a  short  rest,  he  authorized  the  fol- 
lowing interview  through  one  of  the  Paris  cor- 
respondents : 

KEPT  IN  IGNORANCE. 

"  'And  you  never  knew  anything  of  what  was 
being  done  in  France  for  you  ?'  I  asked. 

"  'Never  a  word.  Not  a  single  word.  From 
time  to  time  the  rigors  were  redoubled.  I  know 
now  that  that  coincided  with  the  declarations  of 
the  ministers  of  war.  Every  time  one  of  them 
ascended  the  rostrum  and  declared  that  I  had 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  191 

been  justly  and  legally  condemned,  I  felt  the 
effects  through  the  medium  of  my  jailers.  They 
cut  off  my  food,  or  my  reading,  or  my  work,  or 
my  walk,  or  the  sight  of  the  sea,  and,  finally, 
moving  about  with  the  aid  of  the  double 
"boucle." ' 

"M.  Mathieu  Dreyfus  regarded  his  brother 
with  emotion. 

"  'Is  it  not  awful,'  he  said.  'Happily,  we  knew 
nothing  about  it  here,  for  our  efforts  would  have 
been  hampered  thereby.  If  we  had  known  that 
every  step  toward  the  truth  brought  him  suffer- 
ing, perhaps  our  ardor  would  have  been  dimin- 
ished. But  what  pretext  did  your  jailers  give 
you?' 

"  'None,  and  I  did  not  ask  for  any.  I  do  not 
wish  to  be  beholden  to  those  people  in  any  way. 
Besides,  I  did  not  wish  to  discuss  my  sentence  or 
its  execution  in  any  way,  for  to  discuss  would 
have  implied  to  recognize  it.' 

"These  words  are  said  with  extraordinary  firm- 
ness, almost  harshness. 

PUT  HIM  IN  IRONS. 

"  'Yet,  one  day,'  he  went  on,  'the  day  when 
they  put  irons  on  my  feet,  I  asked  the  reason  of 
the  barbarous  treatment.  They  replied :  "Pre- 
cautionary measure."    It  was  the  day  following 


192  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

that  when  a  denial  had  been  given  of  the  bogus 
attempt  to  escape. 

"  'Ah,  I  well  remember  that  night.  It  was  not 
9  o'clock.  I  was  in  bed  when  I  heard  musketry 
fire  and  a  great  commotion  around  me.  I  sat  up 
in  bed  and  cried,  "What  is  it?  Who  is  there?" 
No  one  replied ;  my  guard  is  silent.  I  do  not  stir, 
thanks  to  I  know  not  what  instinct.  It  was  a 
good  thing  I  did  not,  for  I  should  have  been  in- 
stantly shot.' 

"  'And  so  you  imagined  that  General  Bois- 
deffre  was  looking  after  your  interests?' 

"  'Yes,  I  see  now  that  I  was  mistaken.' 

DONE  WITH  THE  ARMY. 

"  'Would  you  re-enter  the  army  if  legally  you 
had  the  right  ?' 

"  'No ;  I  will  resign  the  very  evening  of  my  re- 
habilitation.' 

"  'In  short,  do  you  think  it  has  been  an  error 
or  conspiracy?' 

"  'I  think  that  at  the  beginning,  up  to  the 
time  of  the  court-martial  of  1894 — that  is  to  say, 
toward  the  end  of  this  investigation — they  be- 
lieved— at  least  the  majority  of  the  persons  con- 
nected with  it — that  I  was  guilty,  but  at  the  court- 
martial  it  was  different. 

"  'I  am  certain  that  from  that  moment,  as  they 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   193 

felt  they  had  made  a  mistake,  they  were  afraid  of 
being  accused  of  carelessness,  and  they  accumu- 
lated against  me  all  kinds  of  machinations.  The 
proof  of  this  has  been  given  by  Captain  Frey- 
staetter. 

RECALLS  HIS  HORROR. 

"  'They  have  provided  behind  my  back  docu- 
ments that  they  knew  were  false,  in  order  to 
secure  my  condemnation.  When  Captain  Frey- 
staetter  at  Rennes  uttered  the  words,  "Paniz- 
zardi  dispatch"  in  his  calm  tones,  I  shuddered.' 

"In  telling  me  this  Captain  Dreyfus'  eyes 
opened  wide  with  a  frightened  kind  of  stare,  and 
he  moved  toward  me  as  if  the  better  to  impress  on 
me  the  horror  that  he  felt.  I  questioned  him 
again. 

"  'You  speak  in  certain  letters  of  your  fear  of 
madness.  How,  indeed,  inactive  as  you  were, 
ill  in  body  and  mind,  without  books,  and  not 
knowing  what  your  fate  would  be,  how  did  you 
succeed  in  warding  off  insanity  ?' 

"  'In  1896  and  1897,  as  I  had  resolved  to  live, 
I  removed  from  my  table  the  photographs  of 
my  wife  and  children,  the  sight  of  whom  made 
me  suffer  and  weakened  me,  I  no  longer  wished 
to  see  them,  and  I  ended  by  only  regarding  them 
as  symbols  without  the  human  figure,  the  thought 


194  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

of  which  unnerved  me  too  much.    I  did  not  want 
to  weaken. 

KEPT  ALIVE  BY  DUTY. 

"  'When  one  has  a  duty  it  must  be  accom- 
pHshed  to  the  end,  and  I  wanted  to  live  for  my 
wife  and  children.  It  was  the  same  during  the 
trial  at  Rennes.  When  I  was  in  so  much  need  of 
strength — well,  I  would  not  re-read  my  diary  of 
Devil's  Island  so  as  not  to  unnerve  myself  and 
so  preserve  my  energy,  for  (and  he  repeated 
this  several  times)  when  one  has  resolved  to  do 
one's  duty,  one  must  go  on  to  the  end.'  His  fist 
strikes  the  seat,  giving  emphasis  to  his  words. 

"  'Do  you  know,'  he  continued,  'what  is  most 
fatiguing  in  struggles  like  mine  ?  It  is  a  passive 
resistance.  To  have  struggled  like  my  brother 
for  five  years  is  indeed  exhausting,  but  at  least 
the  effort  leads  to  result.  You  move,  go  here  and 
there,  cry,  but  you  act,  while  a  passive  resistance 
which  mine  had  to  be  is  more  exhausting,  and 
still  more  depressing  because  it  exacts  the  effort 
of  every  minute  in  your  life  without  resting  a 
single  minute.  It  is  that,  together  with  the  lack 
of  fresh  air,  which  has  exhausted  me  most.' 

TELLS  OF  HIS  PLANS. 
"  'But   you    must   have    had    terrible    night- 
mares ?' 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   195 

"  'Oh,  yes.  I  wrote  them  down  in  my  diary 
afterward,  but  I  could  not  recall  them  at  present. 
When  the  guard  heard  me  talking  aloud  in  the 
night  he  would  come  to  the  foot  of  my  bed  and 
listen  to  my  words  in  order  to  report  them  next 
day  in  his  report  to  the  governor.' 

"  'What  are  you  going  to  do  now,  captain?'  I 
asked. 

"  'To  live  alone  with  my  wife  and  children 
henceforth.  My  children  are  my  greatest  joy  on 
earth.  The  elder,  it  seems,  remembers  me.  The 
girl  was  only  a  few  months  old  in  1894,  so  I  do 
not  know  her.  I  did  not  wish  to  see  them  at 
Rennes  in  order  to  leave  the  sad  impression  of  the 
prison  on  their  young  minds.  One  should  not 
darken  a  child's  imagination,  but  I  am  going  to 
see  them  with  great  joy  in  two  days'  time.  I 
want  to  bring  them  up  myself,  and  in  common 
with  their  mother  to  supervise  their  instruction 
and  education,  because  I  am  opposed  to  boarding 
schools. 

"  'When  my  children  were  small  it  was  a  holi- 
day for  me  to  talk  to  them,  to  form  them  from 
their  earliest  age.  Unfortunately,  events  did  not 
permit,  but  I  hope  to  catch  up.* 

"After  a  while  he  asks  me  point  blank :  'Do 
you  wish  to  know  my  opinion  of  the  "affaire"  ?' 


196  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

and  as  we  all  laugh  over  this  outburst  he  says 
to  me,  half  serious,  half  gay : 

"  'Well,  the  fact  is,  I  do  not  yet  understand 
how  they  could  accuse  me  of  such  a  crime. 

ONE  OF  THE  CAUSES. 

"  'In  my  dealings  with  my  chiefs  I  always  re- 
tained my  outspokenness  and  independence.  If 
a  plan  or  any  piece  of  work  seemed  to  me  to  be 
badly  conceived  I  did  not  hesitate  to  say  so  aloud, 
instead  of  considering  myself  obliged  to  approve 
everything  in  advance,  as  I  saw  done  all  around 
me,  when  it  was  a  chief  who  spoke  or  acted. 

NOT  HUMBLE  ENOUGH. 

"  'I  know  that  people  doi  not  like  that.  Colonel 
Bertin  Merout  said  something  with  deep  mean- 
ing at  Rennes,  speaking  of  that  admirable  man, 
that  hero,  Colonel  Picquart.  It  was  felt  that  this 
officer  did  not  walk  behind  the  chiefs.  That  is 
their  psychology  and  all  their  morality. 

"  'Walk  behind  the  chiefs,  as  if  it  were  in  war 
or  at  the  maneuvers?  Yes,  certainly,  but  when 
it  is  a  question  of  honor  and  duty  is  there  any 
need  to  walk  behind  anyone  ?  Has  one  not  one's 
own  conscience?' 

"The  hour  for  luncheon  was  approaching.  We 
reach   La   Roche-Sur-Yon.    They   brought   us 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   197 

some  well-stocked  baskets,  containing  hard- 
boiled  eggs,  cold  meat,  two  biscuits,  some  choco- 
late, some  white  wine,  mineral  water  and  two 
little  flasks  of  quinine  and  rum. 

"Mathieu  wanted  to  prevent  Alfred  eating  the 
meats.  'You  know  quite  well  that  Delbet  forbade 
you.* 

"  'What  does  it  matter  for  once?  To-morrow 
I  will  be  good,  but  to-day  is  a  holiday.  Be  easy ; 
I  feel  so  well.  It  is  like  a  new  life' — and  Mathieu 
Dreyfus  agrees  to  everything  like  a  good-natured 
parent  to  a  loved  child,  whom  he  wishes  to  restore 
to  health. 

DENOUNCES  ESTERHAZY. 

"The  conversation  now  prattled,  on  everything 
at  haphazard. 

"  'And  Esterhazy — what  do  you  think  of  him  ?' 

"In  quiet,  measured  accents,  slightly  doubtful, 
ever  Hke  a  savant  propounding  a  hypothesis, 
Dreyfus  replied : 

"  *I  think  he  is  a  swindler,  a  chevalier  d'indus- 
trie,  who  has  swindled  his  country — it  is  not  even 
his  country — ^just  as  he  swindled  his  cousin  and 
tradesmen,  but  without  in  the  least  realizing  that 
he  did  so.  He  wanted  money.  That  was  the 
motive,  for,'  he  continued  with  animation,  'for 
every  crime  there  must  be  a  motive. 


198  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

"  'What  could  it  have  been  in  my  case  ?  No 
one  ever  saw  me  touch  a  card,  so  I  was  not  a 
gambler. 

"  'It  was  said  that  I  had  led  a  fast  life.  How  can 
you  explain,  then,  that  I  took  the  ninth  place  on 
leaving  the  college?  Don't  people  know  what 
arduous  work  these  examinations  mean?  How 
can  work  be  allied  with  debauch? 

"  'General  Mercier  said  that  the  search  for  the 
motive  for  a  crime  belonged  to  the  domain  of 
psychology,  and  that  we  were  on  the  judicial 
"domain."    What  does  that  mean  ? 

"  *I  was  never  in  the  law,  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  first  thing  to  be  done  when  one  suspects 
a  criminal  is  to  discover  the  motive  for  his  crime. 
That  is  what  I  call  sound  sense.* 

"He  shrugged  his  shoulders,  and  his  grave 
voice  rose  high  in  the  silence  of  the  stopped  train. 
Then,  lowering  his  voice,  he  repeated  several 
times,  accentuating  each  word :  'Sound  sense. 
Simple,  sober  sense. 

PAIN  OF  THE  VERDICT. 

"  'As  to  the  theory  of  the  court-martial  upon 
the  extenuating  circumstances,  it  is  just  like  this. 
Treason  against  his  country  is  the  greatest  crime 
a  human  being  can  commit.     A  murderer,  a 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  199 

thief,  may  find  some  excuse  for  themselves ;  their 
crime  is  one  against  an  individual.  Treason  is  a 
crime  against  collectivity.  There  are  no  extenu- 
ating circumstances.    It  is  a  monstrosity.' 

"  'What  effect  did  the  verdict  have  upon  you  ?' 

"The  voice  was  at  once  lowered  and  sadly  he 
said:  'It  was  first  of  all  intense  anguish,  then 
stupefaction,  then  very  comforting*  when  I  learned 
that  two  officers  had  had  the  courage  to  declare 
me  entirely  innocent.  I  swear  that  those  two 
brave  officers  were  right.' 

"I  had  a  few  words  with  him  as  to  the  present 
state  of  his  mind.    He  says  to  me : 

"  *I  have  been  the  victim  of  ideas.  I  feel  no 
bitterness.  I  nourish  no  hatred  for  those  who 
have  wronged  me  so  deeply.  I  feel  only  pity  for 
them.  What  we  must  know  is  that  never  again 
can  such  misfortune  befall  any  man.' 

"I  ask  him :  'Are  you  aware  of  the  intensity 
of  feelings  that  your  misfortune  has  aroused? 
You  know  that  people  hate  you,  but  you  know 
that  there  are  many  others  whose  hearts  have  bled 
for  your  sufferings.' 

"  'I  cannot  take  it  myself.  I  represent  in  the 
eyes  of  sensitive  people  part  of  the  human  suffer- 
ing, but  part  only,  and  I  understand  perfectly  that 
it  is  the  kindness  of  my  fellow  beings  which 
moved  them  at  this  symbol  I  personify.' 


200  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

WILL  NOT  GO  ABROAD. 

"  *Do  you  intend  to  Hve  here  ?' 

"  'Yes,  until  my  health  is  restored,  and  I  have 
completely  rested.  I  would  not  go  abroad  as  I 
had  intended  to  do,  as  the  reception  I  might  have 
received  would  have  had  the  air  of  reprisals 
against  the  country,  and  I  could  not  make  up  my 
mind  for  that. 

"  'I  did  not  ask  for  a  pardon,'  he  said,  'but  I 
accept  it  as  an  alleviation  of  my  sufferings  and 
that  of  my  wife,  for  we  both  need  a  little  respite. 
But  this  pardon  in  no  way  affects  my  resolution 
to  seek  my  rehabilitation.  I  will  not  know  either 
insult  or  menace;  I  will  know  no  weakness — I 
mean  mental  weakness.  Must  not  the  soul  domi- 
nate over  the  body  ?'  " 

DREYFUS'    GRATITUDE  TO   AMERICA. 

Captain  Dreyfus,  referring  to  the  messages  of 
sympathy  cabled  to  him  from  the  United  States, 
said: 

"Already  my  brother  Mathieu  has  thanked,  in 
my  name,  the  governors,  senators,  congressmen, 
men  of  letters,  and  humanitarians,  whose  consol- 
ing words  were  sent  to  me  by  cable.  The  fact 
that  they  are  all  personally  unknown   to   me 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.  201 

sharpens  my  appreciation  of  their  valued  words  of 
hope  and  encouragement. 

"I  have  learned  that  in  America  there  are  no 
anti-Dreyfusards,  as  my  opponents  are  called. 
The  day  is  not  far  distant  when  there  will  be  none 
in  France.  What  a  change  from  the  time  when 
so  many  believed  me  guilty  of  an  abominable 
crime ! 

"I  have  also  been  informed  that  the  Americans 
without  exception  advocated  the  justice  of  my 
cause.  There  is  a  keen  and  highly  developed 
sense  of  justice  in  America.  It  seems  to  be  in  the 
American  people  as  naturally  as  the  sun  shines. 
They  love  to  exercise  it  themselves,  and  they 
bring  pressure  upon  others  to  practice  it. 

"It  is  this  strong  sense  of  justice  which  gives 
liberty  its  plentitude  of  meaning  in  the  United 
States.  Liberty  cannot  flourish  where  justice 
does  not  obtain  high  ideals.  A  proper  apprecia- 
tion of  honor  and  a  strict  sense  of  justice  enable 
nations  to  rise  to  great  things  and  individuals  to 
endure  many  things. 

TELLS  OF  DEVIL'S  ISLAND. 

"You  ask  me  about  my  life  on  the  Isle  du  Dia- 
ble.  It  baffles  description.  I  shall  be  forty  years 
old  next  month.    Imagine  halving  been  forced  to 


202  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

pass  an  eighth  of  one's  Hfe  upon  a  rock  in  the 
ocean. 

"It  was  worse  than  being  buried  aHve.  My 
physical  pain  was  intense.  My  mental  tortures 
were  still  worse. 

"I  could  not  sleep.  I  arose  at  6  o'clock.  It 
was  refreshing  to  life  my  aching  body  from  the 
rough  bed.  The  day  wore  on,  wearily  and  pain- 
fully. I  was  guarded  by  eight  men,  who  looked 
upon  me  as  a  beast. 

"Hostile  eyes  were  ever  upon  me.  Not  for  a 
moment  did  that  undisguised  hostility  diminish. 
1  here  were  no  eyes  of  affection  near  enough  to 
vary  the  monotony. 

"Nature  made  that  island  inhospitable  enough. 
Art  rendered  it  an  abomination.  Hot  air  made 
breathing  unpleasant. 

"ibome  of  my  faculties  must  have  starved  there. 
The  exquisite  delight  which  trees,  flowers,  wood, 
and  water  give  me  now  probably  arises  from  the 
fact  that  the  faculties  which  enable  a  man  to  ap- 
preciate landscape  lay  dormant  in  me  so-  long 
that  they  must  have  reverted  to  those  of  a  child. 
They  would  doubtless  soon  be  dead. 

'The  starvation  did  not  stop  with  the  esthetic 
faculties.  Books  were  difficult  to  get.  Mme. 
Dreyfus  was  allowed  to  send  some  occasionally. 
These  formed  a  sort  of  communication  between 


Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France.   203 

us.  I  felt  I  was  reading  the  page  upon  which  her 
sorrowful  eyes  looked.  The  thought  made  my 
cup  less  bitter. 

"Let  us  not  talk  of  the  iron  cage  of  the  Pali- 
sade, of  the  double  buckle.  Better  forget  them 
and  let  their  memory  haunt  some  one  else. 

"Did  I  have  hope?  I  don't  think  I  ever  lost  it, 
even  in  the  blackest  hour.  The  duty  I  had  before 
me  buoyed  me  up,  and  I  think  certain  independ- 
ence of  character  which  I  inherited  helped  me 
through  it  all.  I  was  fully  alive  to  the  obliga- 
tion I  owed  to  my  wife,  my  children,  my  family, 
my  name,  and,  indeed,  to  France. 

"Though  lepers  were  my  predecessors  in  the 
Isle  du  Diable  I  don't  think  you  will  find  a  sin- 
gle note  of  despair  in  all  the  many  letters  I  wrote 
my  wife  from  that  sterile  rock. 

"From  the  day  that  I  wrote  'help  me  against 
the  abominable  attack  upon  my  honor,'  I  never 
lost  hope. 

NO  THOUGHT  OF  RESCUE. 

"My  hope  was  never  based  upon  any  wild  no- 
tions of  rescue.  I  never  thought  of  this.  I  would 
not  have  accepted  such  a  way  to  freedom  if 
offered. 

"To  me  this  place  is  dear.  I  am  not  a  stranger 
here.     It  has  early  and  happy  associations  for 


204  Dreyfus  and  the  Shame  of  France. 

me.  My  sister,  Mme.  Valabregue,  has  Hved  here 
for  thirty  years.  I  was  inscribed  as  a  voter  in  this 
electoral  division.  It  was  here  also  that  my  voca- 
tion for  the  army  was  confirmed,  for  when  my 
sister  found  I  had  no  taste  for  commerce  she  said 
there  should  be  at  least  one  officer  in  our  family. 

"And  the  future?  How  can  I  discuss  it?  I 
must  grow  stronger  here.  I  mean  to  stay  as  long 
as  I  can  amid  these  pleasant  surroundings  and 
where  recollections  of  that  part  of  my  past  which 
was  happy  come  back  to  me. 

"Severity  of  weather  may  force  me  to  a  softer 
climate.  The  physicians  will  decide  what  I  need 
most.  Already  I  hear  hints  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean. 

WORK  FOR  REHABILITATION. 

"That,  however,  is  a  small  matter.  The  chief 
thing  in  the  future,  as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  is 
to  complete  my  rehabilitation.  This  has  been  the 
aim  of  my  life  since  the  first  condemnation.  Peo- 
ple may  say  I  do  not  need  this,  that  in  the  eyes 
of  the  whole  world  no  stain  rests  upon  my  name. 
Moral  rehabilitation  is  good.  Legal  rehabilita- 
tion will  give  the  former  a  sanction  which  cannot 
be  gainsaid. 

"The  exact  mode  of  procedure  rests  with  my 
lawyers.     It  will  doubtless  come  under  the  law 


Dreyfus  aud  the  Shame  of  France.   205 

for  the  reparation  of  judicial  errors.  New  facts 
will  be  found  and  the  request  made  to  have  the 
case  brought  before  the  Court  of  Cassation. 

"Anti-Semitic  agitation !  Such  agitation  should 
never  exist.  There  is  nothing  more  narrow-mind- 
ed and  unreasonable  than  the  persecution  of  a 
people  because  of  the  race  to  which  they  belong. 
People  must  belong  to  some  race.  Those  who 
deny  their  own  are  unworthy. 

"My  trial  has  made  people  think,  and  will 
doubtless  stop  many  from  blindly  persecuting 
our  race.  This  I  do  know,  that  had  I  not  been 
born  a  Jew  I  should  not  have  had  to  endure  the 
tortures  of  the  Isle  du  Diable," 


—THE  END— 


JUL  2  6  1985 


405 


University  of  California 
S0UTHERN7EG10i!lAL  UBRAI^  FACIL^^^^ 
E  HUaatd  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90Q«  i"» 
'  "  ^SSurn  this  material  to  the  Ubrary 
from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


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